Sword and Shield
by everfaithful
Summary: Next in the No such thing as Miracles series. While looking for the sword to slay the demon, Sam and Dean are blackmailed into helping the feds with a little demon problem of their own.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is the next installment in the No Such Thing As Miracles AU. If you havent read that one or Big Brother is Always Watching, you may want to. Special thanks to TSweeny! For the idea. I know its not exactly what you had in mind but... its what started spilling out on the screen:)

SPNSPNSPN

The hotel room door busted open with a loud bang. Sam lifted his head, reaching for the gun under his pillow.

"Don't do it." The voice said and Sam looked over to see the room fill with men in SWAT gear. "Both of you, get out of bed slowly, hands on your heads. Move. Now"

Sam assessed the situation. From his position lying on his stomach on the bed, there was no way he could take 4 armed men before one of them could shoot. So he slid slowly to the floor, on his knees, hands placed on the back of his head.

Dean groaned, but came to the same conclusion as Sam. They were at a distinct disadvantage, and this majorly sucked. He'd gotten to sleep maybe an hour before. But he slid off the bed and got on his knees, raising up his hands, and looked at Sam.

"Sure, let's go look for that sword thing. Sounds like a vacation." He said to his brother. "Did you forget the part about the SWAT team wanting to play tag?"

"Oh yeah cause staying in one place works so well for us. " He said as his arms were pulled behind him and zip tied in place. He was handed off to another agent and escorted to a car. An agent sat on either side of him in the back seat and the driver started the car, waiting.

"You know you could have at least let us get dressed first." Sam said as he sat there in his boxers and nothing else. He was rewarded with nothing more than a glare.

They went through the same process with Dean, "Pack up their gear, bring the car as well. " The lead agent said as Dean was ushered out the door, and into a separate car.

"Don't touch my car!" Dean said and struggled against the zip ties. Dammit, his poor defenseless car. At least Sam had a better chance of defending himself...

He was shoved into another car and flanked by agents much the same way, and he watched in horror as his car was loaded onto a flat bed.

"If there's so much as a scratch...I'll kill you." He said. Seriously. The agent driving chuckled, which infuriated Dean more.

"Mr Winchester, your car is safe. Now sit back and enjoy the ride."

It was a long drive, neither Winchester getting any answers to thier questions. It was all Sam could do not to panic. He was all but hyperventilating as they got to the installation. This wasn't the police, this wasn't FBI. What if they had missed something? What if it was only one cell of the scientists? What if ... Sam closed his eyes and started taking long deep breaths to hold the panic at bay.

They were herded into an innocuous looking office building, though inside was brightly lit with people in suits milling about. Dean tried to drag his heels, just to give them a hard time, but was put in a room anyway. Looking all the world like a police interrogation room, he'd know, he'd been in them enough.

"So what's the charge, officer? Sleeping shirtless?" The metal chair was cold against his back and the back of his thighs as he sat in his boxers, hair standing up on end as it usually did first thing in the morning.

The agent sat across the table from him and studied him for a moment. "Hard to imagine where you are supposed to be so impressive, Winchester. " He said. "This list of charges against you include, but are not limited to, murder, fraud, impersonating a police office, federal agent, Homeland security, grave desecration... should I go on?"

"Where's my brother?" Dean asked instead, all joking off his face. If they thought they were going to get away with hurting Sammy, they had another thing coming. He had to be nearly hysterical, thinking a lab had him or something at this rate. He had to get out of here, so he could get his brother out of here.

"Your brother will be joining us later. He... needed a little down time." The man said. "It seems he hadn't recovered as fully from his ordeal in Virginia as we had hoped."

Dean's eyes flared out a glare at the man, and quicker than anyone expected, he was on his feet. Across the table and behind the man. His bound wrists around his neck and applying some pressure as the man tried to get Dean's arms away from his throat.

"One move and I WILL snap his neck." He said to the others, who stood cautiously by. "Now someone tell me who the fuck you are and what the fuck you want!" That implication that they were connected to that lab, and that they had done something to Sam to make him get his 'down time,' along with exhaustion, worry, and all around frayed at the edges, was more than Dean could be expected to take.

"We're homeland security." The man said, still perfectly calm."Your brother became hysterical. He had to be sedated. You want to see him? Or have half a chance go getting out of here in one peice, you will let my man go and sit your fucking ass down."

"You sedated my brother?" Dean snapped. Oh that was great. Now Sam would wake up even more hysterical. "What do you people want with us? You busted into our hotel room, zip tied us, dragged us here in the middle of the night, and then you touched my brother. I better start getting some answers quick or I'll have to show you just how impressive I can be." Because if a demon couldn't get in the way of him getting to his brother, these men didn't stand a chance. Of course, they were human (though he wasn't discounting that they were evil yet) so he didn't exactly want to be 'impressive.'

"You have two options, Winchester. Let go of the man and take a seat, so that we can explain to you exactly what you are going to do for us, or you can go to prison for what is left of your life, and your brother will wind up in an institution for the criminally insane."

"There's nothing wrong with my brother that you didn't do to him." Dean snarled but released the man roughly. Then he kicked one of the metal folding chairs so it slid across the room into the corner and sat himself down. He could fight his way out of a corner, where he had the advantage of lack of space for his opponent. "Fine. Start talking." He said, glaring at the men, looking one hundred percent like a wanted man one should fear. And have tasers for.

The door opened, and Thomas Quillon entered the interrogation room. "Good to see you again, Dean." He said, although he doubted Dean Winchester would remember him. "You were what... 10 last time I saw you. I heard about your father." He said as he walked over to the table and took a seat. "I'm truly sorry." He looked up at the others and nodded to the door, and they filed out of the room.

Dean's lip barely refrained from curling into a sneer. He remembered the last time a fed, or someone like that, mentioned his father. "You don't know anything about my father. What do you want?" He didn't remember the man. He looked vaguely familiar, but the man had one of 'those' faces anyway. "You know what? Forget that. I'm not talking until I know for fact that Sam is all right. And I'll need more than promises from you. I'd like some pants too. Coffee would be great, as long as you don't spike it. Where's Sam?"

"Actually I do know John. " He said and walked to the intercom. "My father threatened to kill him twice. Which is amazing as my father had the patience of a saint." He pressed the button. "Can you get us some coffee in here, and send Johnson in with a set of clothes for our guest?" He then returned to his seat at the table.

Dean twitched. He had no idea what was going on. And he was a master at reading situations. "And Sam?" He said. He wasn't budging on that. Not until he knew, until he saw it with his own eyes, that Sam was okay. And if he could keep Sam steady at the same time, it was a win-win scenario.

"Sam is sleeping it off at the moment." Quillon said casually. "He was having a severe panic attack in the car. They gave him a shot of Ativan. He'll come around soon and you can see him then. You really don't remember... well I guess it has been a long time. I'm Thomas Quillon. You can call me Tom."

"All right, Tom, I want to see my brother, and I want to make sure for myself that he's fine. That includes everything up to and including taking his pulse myself." Dean said. "See, I don't trust the government when it comes to my brother, you all are freaks in nice suits."

"I would love nothing more than to indulge your feelings." Thomas said. "But I don't have that luxury and you have no room to make demands. " He leaned back in the chair, hands folded in front of him. He glanced at the door out of the corner of his eye when it opened and they brought in a prison jumper and two cups of coffee.

The man glanced at Quillon for future orders, receiving none, he turned and left the room.

Dean took the coffee, but not the jumpsuit. "Am I under arrest?" He asked. "Planning on locking me up, sending me to the big house? What the hell do you want?" He was tired, his nerves were frayed and he was not in the mood to play games. But he drank his coffee with his wrists still ziptied and glared at the man.

"I dont have to arrest you, Dean. Not now. That stunt you pulled when you rescued Sam from the Eugenics lab, you know the one, where you blew the building up with government employees still inside. That's being called a terrorist attack. That puts you in my jurisdiction. Especially if people knew how you were brought up. Sam is listed as a mental patient there, so, he really doesn't need to be arrested either. Just returned to custody. But I think you would rather crawl across hell itself than allow that to happen again." He leaned forward and took his own coffee. "So, you have a problem I can help you with, and I have a problem you can help me with. Something right up your alley. "

"Terrorist attack? Because you people were rounding up psychics against their will so you could use them as weapons?" Dean shot back. "Whatever. Fine, what's the problem?" He needed some time to figure out how to get out of this one, and get Sam out of it too.

"We have a demon infestation in the higher offices of our government." Quillon said. "Traces of sulfur found in and around one of the senator's hotel rooms, various signs along the way. I know what you do, Dean. Your father did a job for mine once when you were boys. Your job is to save the world one unfortunate at a time. Mine is to keep this country safe. For now our jobs coincide."

"So you want me to do your job for you?" Dean asked with a smirk. "Talk about the buck doesn't stop here. Now why would I do something like that? I mean, I'm an accused murderer who likes to play with dead bodies. My brother is a complete nutcase. Dude, you gotta be desperate."

"You're a demon hunter, I'm not. No one on my payroll is. Now the question is, how badly do you want to keep your brother out of a facility that this demon would have complete access to, being a senator and all?" Quillon was figuring Dean out as they went. He would throw a lot of bravado and sarcasm, but his little brother was the be all and end all of his world. That was where Dean Winchester was vulnerable, so that was where he would hit the hardest. "I know he isn't insane, but in the interests of national security, I'm willing to let the record stand."

"You're a bastard." Dean said. "Obviously I have to talk to Sam about this. I can't accept a government contract by myself. Freelancers, sure, but we're a team. End of story."

"Put the jump suit on." Quillon said. "And we'll take a walk down to the infirmary." He motioned Dean to come forward to clip the zip tie that held his hands. "Don't try anything stupid. We both know it will end very badly if you do."

"I think we have different definitions of stupid." Dean said as his wrists were freed. He grimaced at the jump suit, but he couldn't walk around in his boxers. So he reluctantly pulled it on, but zipped it up only to his waist and tied the sleeves around his waist. He didn't want to be mistaken for a prisoner. Not yet. If ever. "Ready." This had to be the stupidest thing he'd ever considered, and he had considered (or done) a lot of stupid things in the past.

Quillon got up and rapped on the door, which opened for them. "He won't be completely conscious at this point. " He said as he led the way down to an elevator. "Senator McKendrick is from Kansas, ironically." He said. "So you may be spending a good deal of time tracking things down there since Senate isn't in session at the moment."

"Well, there's no place like home, right?" Dean said as he followed Quillon to his brother. "Seriously, you guys can kidnap a facility full of psychics but can't take down a demon? It's really not that hard."

"That facility was a federal mental hospital,and Homeland security doesn't abduct anyone. You two are currently under arrest for possible involvement in a terrorist act." He said. "Well, you are. Your brother is simply an escaped mental patient.I could easily charge you with kidnapping him." He said seeming amused at that thought. He rapped at a door and it was opened. "Here he is."

Sam lay on a gurney, ready to be put onto an ambulance if needed. He was restrained, and an IV was attached to his hand.

"You son of a bitch." Dean said to Quillon as he moved past him. The first thing he did was take the IV out, letting the fluid drip all over the floor as he tore part of the sleeve of his jumpsuit off and wrapped it around the old IV site. "Sam. Sam. Come on, rise and shine. They're not letting me sleep, you don't get to. Come on, I need to talk to you. Or I'm shaving your head." Dean said, slapping his brother's face lightly.

Sam moaned when the IV was removed. "Dean." He managed to get out eyes fluttering open then closing once more. It was hard to wake up, hard to focus through the drugs. They had given him enough to sedate him, not merely take the edge off of the anxiety he felt. "I'm..." He swallowed, drifting out of consciousness for a moment. "Sorry." He was certain that it was starting again. Just a few short weeks after his rescue it had happened again.

"Sam I need you to concentrate." Dean said, remembering what had happened in the farm house to the man who had stabbed Dean. "Keep under control, it's not quite like you think. But I'm gonna need you a little more coherent to talk about it, got it? Hang in there, Sammy."

"Happening again." He mumbled, eyes closing once more, his breathing becoming steady and even once more.

"He's not going to wake up easily." Quillon stated. "But he's alright. There was nothing but saline in that IV. Didn't want him getting dehydrated."

"Shut up." Dean snapped. "Do you people see what you've done to him? And you're all right with that?" He shook his head and pinched his brother. "Sam! It's not happening again. I'll get us out of this. Got you out of the secret government whack job lab, right?" He looked at Quillon. "Reverse the sedative. Now. And I know it can be given with a shot in the thigh. I can't do shit with my brother doped up to the gills." He'd spent enough time in the hospital recovering from New Orleans that he had some pharmeceutical knowledge now.

Quillon told one of the guards to go and fetch the doctor.

"Ow." Sam tried to pull away from where he was being pinched. "Dean...run... you have to ... have to run." His words slurred into a mumble as he faded into unconsciousness once more.

The door opened and a man entered the room. "This will reverse the effects of the Ativan." He told Quillon. "But it should keep the anxiety down." He injected the romazicon. "Give him about 15-20 minutes and he'll be fine."

Dean looked at his watch to mark the time. "Thank you." He said and took the needle from the doctor, who immediately backed up against the wall. Dean used the needle to carefully undo some of the locks and saw away at the zip ties, until his brother was unrestrained. He looked at Quillon, barely restrained fury in his green hazel eyes, looking all the world like a fairer version of John when he had a mad on. "Well, congratulations. You've managed to back me into a corner I can't get out of. Give me the file on the guy to look over while Sam detoxes." He quirked a brow at Quillon. "You do have a file, right?" Even the most unexperienced of hunters put together some sort of research material.

"I do." He said and set his briefcase down on a near by table and unlocked it. He handed Dean a file that was an inch thick. "Everything we have on him. I'm sure you'll notice when things started to change, of course the occasional shot of unnatural green eyes when he comes with a perfectly natural pair of brown ones all his own doesn't hurt the assessment."

"And what have you guys done about this?" Dean asked. "Am I dealing with a pissed off political demon or what?" He could not believe he was doing this. But it would keep Sam out of the looney bin long enough for him to figure something out. Anything. Working for the government...if his father had a grave, he'd be rolling around in it for certain. He moved Sam's legs over and sat down on the end of the bed, crossing his own legs Indian style as he browsed the file. "Am I trusted with a pen? Or is everyone too frightened I'll jam it into their necks?"

Quillon tossed him a pen. "We haven't done anything yet. To the best of our knowledge he doesn't know he's been made. Hell, my office doesn't know he's a demon. They just know that he is acting in ways contrary to the best interests of our country."

"Yeah, we shouldn't disillusion them. Because that leads to mass hysteria and the like." Dean said as he underlined and crossed off different parts of the file as he waited for Sam to come to. "Believe me, I got experience with demons. Nothing like having one in your head to really get to know how they think."

"I can imagine." Quillon said. "That part I was unaware of, but your years of experience and ability to get into enough trouble to be bargained with made you perfect for the job."

Sam moaned softly, and tentatively brought a hand up to his face. He was starting to come out of it."Dean?"

Dean ignored Quillon as soon as Sam started coming around. "Hey sleepy head." He said with a smirk. "And here I thought I'd get to watch you drool in your sleep for a few more hours. Don't panic, it's not quite what you think."

He pushed himself upright "What ever it is... it cant be good." He looked at the doctor and his heart rate went up dramatically even though he remained outwardly calm. "So... what ahm... what do they want with us?" He knew it wasnt a typical arrest.

"They want us to take out a demon that the good people of Kansas elected to the US Senate." He said, passing the file over. "In return, you get to stay out of the looney bin. Not a bad trade I guess."

"Why would they put me in a psych ward?" Sam asked as he took the papers.

"You escaped from a facility in Virginia a few weeks ago. " Quillon supplied. "Of course your brother is also implicated in the bombing of said facility, and the deaths of more than 30 people."

Sam paled.

"Thought we got everyone out." Dean mumbled. He did feel horrible about that. On the other hand, he wouldn't put it past the government, or this guy, to either lie about the dead people, or have stuck them there just for this reason. "But yeah, I broke you out. You remember that part, you came to in the truck and asked me to knock you back out."

Sam took a couple deep breaths. "That was no mental hospital and you know it." He told Quillon. "If those people died in there, it's not my brother's fault."

"It's not a matter of fault. And if you take care of this little problem, you'll never have to deal with that bit of information again."

"Yeah right." Dean muttered under his breath. "Let's just do this. Where the hell is my car? There better not be a scratch on her or I swear you haven't seen terrorism." Sam was all right. Now he could worry about his car.

"How about we start with our clothes?" Sam said. "Then his car and the exit." He was still blinking to stay awake but it was more exhaustion than anything else. "Don't suppose you guys would spring for a hotel room since you cost us our last one?"

"And here I thought you wanted to wake up." Quillon stated with a smirk. "Fine. You can have a hotel room for the night. Then you are to head to Kansas and see what you can do there, before he heads back to Washington. "

"Yes sir." Dean said, mockingly, as he helped his brother up. "There are clothes in the car. We'll get changed there. Get a hotel room, and hopefully wake up and this will all be a bad dream."

"Senate resumes in a little less than a month. If its' not resolve by that time, I start issuing warrants." Quillon said. He tossed the keys to Dean . "The car is on parking level three. I'll reserve a room for you at the Days Inn down the street."

"Aren't you a pal?" Dean said. "Come on, Sam." He said and headed outof the room with his brother, a guard showing them the way to parking level three, where he was relieved to see his baby in one piece, undamaged. They threw on clothes in the parking lot and drove to the Days Inn, where they checked into the room provided. Then snuck out and checked into another hotel. "Okay Sam. Strip." Dean said.

"What?" Sam asked. "Dude, those are so words I do not need to hear out of my brother's mouth."

"Sam, just do it." Dean said as he found his pocket knife. "Doesn't strike you as strange that they just let us waltz out of there? We weren't followed. You really think they're going to trust us to head to Kansas and handle the problem they let get out of control? Or do you think it's possible they're tracking us somehow? And if they were going to track us somehow...they'd track the one that was knocked out, right? That would be you."

Sam stripped, not liking the idea of Dean cutting something out of him, but he liked the idea of something stuck inside him even less. "I don't hurt anywhere but my head. That's probably just the side effect of the drugs."

Dean sighed and checked his brother out. Then sat him down and checked out his head and found a small lump. Covered by his hair with a small incision in it, right at the back of his head. "Found it." He said quietly. "Dammit. It's right at the base of your big fat head."

"Ow!" Sam said through clenched teeth. "Yeah well my big fat head hurts, so ease up, will ya?" He reached around to feel the lump and around it. "Son of a bitch... they could have paralyzed me with that thing."

"Yeah, I know." Dean said and went to sit on his bed. "Which means I can't dig it out." He said and rubbed his hands over his face. This was so not good.

"Okay." Sam said a little breathlessly. "I'll ahm... steal a car and go to Kansas...you go anywhere but Kansas." He cringed a little at the look he got from his brother. "We'll find someone whose TK is more advanced than mine and get it removed... in the mean time we ... go to Kansas and deal with a senator packing a hitchhiker. "

"That's more of a plan. I'll call Andy and see if there's anyone back at the compound who's got some TK we can use." Dean said. "In the meantime, looks like we're doing it their way, so we might as well get some sleep, right?"

Sam nodded. "Get this thing out of my head and Canada is starting to look like a good idea." He said with a faint laugh. He didn't get undressed this time, merely kicked his shoes off and slid between the covers.

"Just get some sleep, Sam." Dean said with a sigh. So much to figure out. The government had them by the balls right now, so they had to solve the little senatorial mess. Not to mention their own little quest. And hope they weren't double crossed (which they probably would be). Dean's head was spinning and swimming as his mind worked over different things as he laid back on the bed. He gave up on sleep when he saw the sun start to peek through the sky and went to get coffee across the street. Carrying the breakfast trays and the coffee, he stopped by the oh so obvious government issue unmarked car and rapped on the window. "Rise and shine boys. We'll be headed to Kansas after we eat and shower and stuff, so get your coffee now."

The driver snorted awake and yawned. "Good enough." He nodded to the man in the passengers seat that got out of the car and headed toward the cafe.

Sam was up when Dean entered the room with breakfast, having taken the time to shower and dress. He picked up the file they had been given and sat down to look it over. "Hey." He said.

"Hey." Dean said. "Got breakfast." He said, setting it down on the table. "So anything interesting in there? I highlighted a few things, but then you woke up." He said with a shrug as he headed into the bathroom, not wanting to wake his brother up before he had to. "And you left me some hot water, right?"

"Other than this guy is running for vice president in the primaries, which, gotta say, scares the hell out of me." Sam said. "Other than that, he was born in Lawrence... " Sam frowned. "I'm starting to wonder if this is an actual possession or if it's another generation of ... well.. psychics."

"Nice thought." Dean said as he came out of the shower and started eating. "Could be. But there's the sulfur. And you said yourself the yellow eyed demon was in the lab, but he was weakened like a new born kitten. Unless it's a whole other demon we're dealing with, though you kinda gotta be related to Satan to go into politics, right?"

"Nice." Sam said with a laugh. He had been involved in politics at college, student council, that sort of thing. Had been considering a minors in Poli-sci since he was going into tax law he didn't see much point in a minors in Criminal Sciences. Sam never did anything by halves. "Well, Azazel had one rival, wouldn't surprise me if he had another, or if... Tamiel clawed his way out of hell as well. But there are psychics out there that were completely on board with his plans. There could be others...older than me, cause we know there are younger."

"Great." Dean said. "The day keeps getting better and better. We'll see what we find. I cannot believe we're going back to Kansas, what is it with that place?" He shook his head.

"Might have something to do with the gateway to hell in that cemetary." He said with a laugh. Not believing any such thing existed. "I'm sorry I keep getting you into these situations."

"Or I got you into this one, being on the wanted list and everything." Dean said. "Come on, they're waiting for us to hit the road." He said with a chuckle. "I'm going to call Andy and Bobby, see what they can do for that GPS on your brain stem."

"We need to get new phones." Sam said. "I don't want to give them a clue on how to get to the others. You know they had our stuff long enough to bug it."

"I already combed over the car. They found some inventive places to put the bugs, I'll give you that." Dean said. "So you work over the phones, see if you can find the bugs. We can't get new phones right now, not with our federal shadow and all."

"True." Sam said and picked up his phone and looked it over for signs of having been taken apart. He indicated to Dean that it had, deciding to leave that one as it was. Then took out a small set of screw drivers and went to work taking Dean's phone apart to remove the bug within. He walked over to the hotel room phone and planted the bug there. It should give the feds something to think about.

Dean chuckled. "They should pick up some interesting conversations." He said as he tossed Sam's bag to him. "Come on, we've got some road to cover. Hope those federales know how to navigate backroads."

"Or not." He said with a laugh. "It's not like they won't catch up with us again in Kansas. This whole thing feels off you know." He said as he started out the door.

"Yeah, well, we don't have a choice. A demon gets into the White House, bad idea. And if he is a psychic on the demon's side...the demon won't need an army. He'll have a nuclear arsenal at his disposal." Dean said. "Not to mention the very nice leverage they have against us. Dude, I'm a terrorist. That's gotta bump me up the list a bit."

"Gotta get you off that list." He said as he put his bags in the trunk, taking his computer up front with him. He was going to have to scrub the thing. But first he had to take it apart and look for bugs. Then he would have to wipe the hard drive and start fresh. Fortunately everything he needed he could get Ash to send him over the internet.

"Dude, you're just jealous. You're still not on it, even after New Orleans." Dean said. "What can I say? I cast a huge ass shadow and you're just gonna have to live with that. It's okay. I accept you anyway."

"I'm perfectly happy to be able to use my own name if I wanted to." Sam said with a grin. "Besides. It's all my fault you are on the list so.. you can say thank you now." Not that Sam felt he should be thanked. He felt pretty rotten about it but if Dean could pretend to be excited about it, so could he.

"Keep up this self blame thing, and I'll make you ride with the men in black." Dean said with a chuckle as he got into the car. "When I went to wake them up, they were listening to the Bee Gees, so you'll fit right in."

"Ew." Sam said. "I'm just saying you didn't want to go to St. Louis, I had to talk you into it, and you wouldn't be a terrorist if you hadn't come to save me. It's not self recrimination, it's facts. Straight up facts."

"It's also old and worn out and I said I didn't want to hear it anymore." Dean said. "You want to play that game? My fault you were possessed, because he was coming after me. That one pretty much tops all the rest of them."

"It's my fault Mom's dead." He said figuring that one trumped everything. "But now that we have the lines of blame laid out for us. Although gotta say, possession is over and done with... the rest not so much." He grinned a little at that. He took out the lap top and began to remove the plates on the bottom to look for bugs. "Although if you hit a pot hole while I am working on this thing, I might have to kill you."

"Dude, it's my fault Dad's dead. Both time." Dean said. "So don't go off on that Mom thing. That's so not right." He said as he adjusted his driving to accomodate potholes and the like.

"No Dean. Dad made his choices both times. It's not the same." He assured himself that there were no tracking devices or bugs in the lap top, then turned it on to start running Ash's special anti spy ware / antivirus programs.

"It's exactly the same." Dean said. "But whatever, I'm not arguing with you about this again. And again. So any idea how to get into the senator's office? Preferably legitimately, I don't trust our new friends not to arrest me for breaking and entering."

"I don't trust them to know a demon from a hole in the ground." Sam said. "I want to make sure it's something that needs dealing with before we go and either kill or exorcise a US senator." He sighed. "I might be able to sort out a way inside... at least for me." He said. "Senator McKendrick is a Bonesman... amongst other things... Bilderberg... he's on the who's who list of at least three international so called secret societies."

"Secret societies that publish who's who lists. Am I the only one that sees something wrong with that?" Dean said with a shake of his head. "We're not publishing a who's who for ours. Got it? No freaky awards ceremony, nothing. It's called a secret society for a reason. Dude, you were probably a member of one back at Stanford. How WASPy can you get?" He said with a laugh.

Sam simply smiled. "Stanford doesnt have a secret society." He lied, and just the way he said it, told his brother that his assessment of the situation had been correct. "Most of them aren't about secrecy so much as ... privacy. The ultimate old boys' network." He said as he took out his cell phone and placed a call. "Hey, man it's Sam, what's up... yeah... I had to take some time off after Jessica died. Couldn't think straight enough to do my best.. yeah well that's what I wanted to talk to you about. " Sam brought up his email program. "I was wondering if you think your brother over at Yale could give me a little assistance... networking. I'm headed back to Kansas, yeah, I'm from Kansas." He rolled his eyes. "No, Senator McKendrick is from my home town and there during the off season. Was wondering if your brother could put in a word for me, hoping to get an interview to be on his staff... tax law is boring." Sam said with a laugh. "Thanks, man, I appreciate it. I'll send out my resume to your email address. Talk to you later."

"Tax law? You were going into tax law?" Dean said, shocked at that. "All those years with Dad, not to mention you got your scholarship on a fake W-2...and you go into tax law. I'm...I'm shocked. And here I thought I raised you right. Okay, so we'll get you an in there, and I'll...I'll hang out at bars or something."

"There is good money and no publicity in tax law." Sam said. "And you and Dad couldn't call me to get you out of trouble that way." He said with a laugh. "Anyway, that was Jake, one of those people in that group that doesn't exist. His brother is attending Yale and is in Skull and Bones. We'll see if the resume being passed along though the chain will work. If not we'll have to come up with something different and you don't get to hang out in bars. We'll figure out something. I'm gonna need your back up if it's actually a demon, you know."

Dean sighed. "Fine. I'll keep the bar crawling to a minimum while you're doing your do gooder political networking. Maybe I'll hang out with Missouri. Because if we don't say hi, she'll never forgive us." Dean said with a laugh, since they were going to be in Lawrence and all. "Well, me anyway. That woman is looking for an excuse, any excuse, to hit me."

"She isn't looking for an excuse, you give them to her. She can read your mind after all. " Sam said with a laugh.

"And that's cheating." Dean said as he drove toward Kansas. "Of all the reasons to go back to Kansas, this isn't one of them I had thought would ever happen." Lawrence especially. "No, seriously, I'll hit the bars and see what the hometown feeling is on this guy. Get a bunch of people drunk, their real feelings come out."

"People talk politics in the types of bars you go to?" He asked with a laugh. "Thought you always said that was the sort of thing you talked about in yuppie bars."

"Yeah, real political discussion. I'm talking complaining about the powers that be. That's the type of bars I go to." Dean said with a laugh. There was a difference, after all.

Sam laughed and shook his head. "Sometimes I think I'm adopted." He teased.

"Dude, just because two beers and you're singing bad kareoke, don't blame me." Dean said with a laugh.

Sam laughed. "Yeah right... I mean seriously... could I have been any more different than you and Dad?" He asked, still unable to see how much he truly was like his father. Probably because he had never known the man who smiled easily, and loved openly.

"Dude, you are exactly like Dad." Dean said with a laugh. "Come on, you're both stubborn, both have to be right. And you both become disappointed in me so very easily. You've got his hair, you've got his eyes, you've got his freaking dimples for god's sake. Don't tell me you're nothing like him."

"The only time we ever agreed on anything was when you were in danger." Sam said shaking his head. "And even then only right before the infamous vacation."

"Dude, you're Dad. Okay?" Dean said with a chuckle. "Agreeing with someone doesn't make you exactly like them you know. Just accept it."

"You know there is a little dust devil action going on in his grave when you said that." Sam shook his head. "You two just always seemed to click."

"Yeah, so?" Dean said. That couldn't be denied. He and John always had gotten along better than Sam and John. "Doesn't mean you're not like him. Just means you two were TOO alike. Constant butting of heads and fighting because you both had to be right, all the time."

Sam smiled. "Yeah I suppose so." He said with a faint laugh. "Oh man... I don't know how you survived us growing up."

"Barely." Dean said. "Why do you think I started hanging out in bars and pool halls?" He said with a smirk. "Tell you one thing, you two did wonders for my sex life without even knowing it."

"You are such a perv." Sam said shaking his head as he closed down his computer and leaned against the window of the car. His head still hurt like hell.

"Dude, take some Tylenol." Dean said. "We'll be in Kansas in a little while, then we can focus on getting that thing out of your head. Hey, your phone is the one that we kept bugged, right?" He said, taking Sam's phone and called Quillon. "Nice brain surgery on my brother. Now he's got a headache. How am I supposed to work with Headache Man?"

"It's just the muscles adapting to the GPS locator. The headaches will pass eventually." Quillon stated. "You really didn't expect us to just let you go and hope you would comply."

"Was kinda hoping. Makes it easier to work." Dean said. "So you're giving my psychic brother headaches. Great shot. If we're lucky, he won't decimate a town next time he has a spasm. How can you be so completely stupid?"

"First, he isn't that powerful, second it's emotion based, not centered in pain. Certainly not something as mild as a nasty headache. Are you always so dramatic?" He asked in amusement.

"Pain brings on emotion." Dean said. "Hey dude," he said to Sam, "Quillon just called you a wimp." He laughed a bit. "Are you always so stupid? Thought you did your research on us. Dude, did you just read the Cliff Notes or something?"

"I'm not removing the device, Sam will adapt to it being there and it shouldnt trigger any dramatic displays of his abilities. if it does... I suggest he learn to control himself. "

"Son of a bitch." Dean said as he hung up the phone and tossed it back into Sam's lap. "I hate that guy. I really do." He said as the Impala crossed into Kansas.

"I'm not exactly fond of him either, but it's just a headache, nothing to worry about. Although I know where I would like to put the damned thing once we get it out of my neck."

"Yeah I can imagine." Dean said, glowering at the roads as he pulled into Lawrence after stopping for drive through and coffee. "Okay, any response from your top secret society that doesn't exist?"

"Not yet. It takes a while. Might be a day or two." Sam said as he downed more tylenol. "And we still have no guarantee he will interview me."

"True. You might be in the red headed step child of secret societies." Dean said with a smirk. He handed Sam his phone. "Call up Ash and see what he can find for us on this guy. And get everyone on the move from the farmhouse. I don't want the government knowing about them if we can help it."

"Sorry, I should have thought of that." Sam said wishing the pounding in his head would stop. He called Ash first. "Dude, got someone I need you to scope out for me. Senator Allen McKendrick."

"Senator?" Ash said, surprised. "You've got me stuck out in the middle of Eastern nowhere with a bunch of psychics and Bobby, and you want me to investigate a senator? Are you stoned? What the hell are you doing in politics? Thought you weren't going evil on us."

Sam laughed a little weakly. "I'm not... he is... or so Homeland Security says." Sam explained the latest events in their lives. "So needless to say we are screwed beyond belief at the moment. "

"Wow...when you guys screw the pooch you really screw her hard." Ash said with a whistle. "I'll see what I can find. If it's there, I'll find it. I'll tell Bobby to get everyone moved out. Don't know where, but I bet Bobby does. He's good at that."

"Yeah... just don't tell us where until this is done. Oh and... see if you can't find someone with TK that could maybe get this thing out of my neck with out turning me into a vegetable."

"Will do, chief." Ash said. "We'll have them practice or something." Which they were already doing, so they could learn to go to the store without causing an incident. Since the government had hyped up and accelertated the development of a few of them. "Give us a call when this is over. Till then I'll email you everything."

"Sounds good, be careful, man." He said and hung up. "Well that's taken care of." Sam told his brother. "We have any flexeril in the first aid kit? Maybe that would help."

"You know what will help me? Beating the hell out of Quillon." Dean said with a scowl as he reached back and brought the bag up. "Should be some in there. Okay, let's find a motel to make our little shadows as uncomfortable as possible. Gotta be a redlight motel around here somewhere."

"Dude, that's gonna make me uncomfortable." Sam said as he fished around for the muscle relaxers, rubbing at the back of his head with his free hand. "This headache doesn't go away..." Sam wasn't normally one for unnecessary violence, they had enough in their lives that they couldn't avoid without adding more but he was contemplating taking it out on the shmucks following them.

"If it doesn't, then we'll just make them regret putting it in you." Dean said. They'd messed with his little brother. Which meant in his mind it wasn't unncecessary violence. "Ah, here we go. This one looks scuzzy enough." The Winchesters could sleep anywhere, a special gift instilled in them by their father.

Sam shook his head. "We're not paying by the hour." He said. "And you get to go and get the room." He wasn't in the mood to explain that they really were brothers. Sam wasn't in the mood for much of anything at the moment. He downed the muscle relaxers dry and leaned his head back against the seat.

"Dude, I always have to get the room." Dean grumbled. "Makes me feel like your pimp or something. Fine, fine. I'll get the stinking room. You order the pizza. Bitch."

"Think we should order a pineapple, onion and anchovy special for the men in black?" Sam asked, forcing a smile. Not even able to come up with his usual come back

"Absolutely. And have them pay for all of them." Dean said with a laugh as he parked to get a room, coming out with the key. "Hopefully the headache will fade with some food, some beer and some sleep."

"Yeah I'm sure it will." Sam said, but wasn't holding out much hope until the muscle actually healed around the damned thing. Which just meant he would have to go through this all over again if they were ever able to remove it.

"Maybe we can just deactivate it somehow." Dean mused as they headed toward the room. He had to laugh a bit as he saw the faces on their shadows as they were forced to book a room at the motel also. "We'll figure out something."

"I know" Sam said, shrugging a little as the tension was spreading down into his shoulders. "Once this thing heals over it should be fine." Once inside the room he tossed down his bags and flopped back onto the bed. "Is it just me or did things get a hell of a lot more complicated when Dad sent Azazel to hell."

"You know, I thought things were supposed to be easier. Or at least simpler." Dean said, shaking his head as he sat on his bed. "Now we've got demon politicians, secret government agencies, a eugenics lab, and other kids like you hiding out because we told them to. You know that essay thing, Everything I Ever Needed to Know I Learned in Kingergarten? This wasn't covered in it."

"Not even close to covered. It's like we stepped into the twilight zone, even for us." Sam said. "I keep expecting to wake up in the hospital in New Orleans."

"Dude, I woke up in traction. Let's not go that far." Dean said with a chuckle. "On a morphine drip with Missouri ordering the nurses around. How about we wake up the day I was released?"

Sam laughed. "Better yet... we just find Dad and life gets boring from there." He actually found himself wishing their father was with them now.

"That sounds like a good idea. Except you know Dad wasn't one for retirement. Even when he didn't have a memory." Dean said as he got up to get the pizza. "Yeah, the guys next door will pay for it. Dude, they're the ones that called." Dean said with a straight face as he closed the door, pizza in hand. "His idea of retirement would probably have been hiking through the Outback with a canteen and a change of socks."

"I could deal with that right about now. I could deal with the job the way it used to be. Right now... I'm tired Dean. I'm so damned tired." Soul weary. Sam wasn't sure how much more he could take and hold it together. But he didn't have the option of letting himself fall apart.

"I know." Dean said as he put the pizza down and grabbed a few slices, slapping them on a styrofoam plate and shoving it into Sam's hands. "Believe me, I know. It's so hard to keep momentum when you're the one you're following. But what choice do you have? Roll over and die? Sorry, not happening."

"I know." Sam said. "But I could seriously use some down time." He didn't use the V word. It was considered bad luck. Besides it hadn't be a real vacation, it was just Sam and John doing their best to hide Dean.

"I don't know." Dean said. He liked to just keep moving forward. Because he had no choice. Plus it made it harder to think about everything that happened if he just kept piling more stuff on it. As much as he talked about going to ground, taking a break, going to the Grand Canyon or Amsterdam...he just kept moving.

"Yeah... I get that." Sam said making himself sit up to get a piece of pizza if for no other reason than to keep the muscle relaxers from tearing his stomach apart.

"Let's just get this over with." Dean said with a sigh. "Then, maybe, we'll just go to where everyone else is and lay low. Hopefully they'll go somewhere sunny and we can just relax in the sun. You're getting pasty again."

"You worry too much." Sam said with a grin. He knew that it was more wear than lack of sun. He had far too much stress was all. He would get better once things got back to normal. He almost laughed at that. Normal.

"No I don't." Dean said. "Maybe a little, but it's my job, right?" He flipped through the channels, nothing much on. Not that there ever was. "Hey, maybe we should short sheet their beds. I've got some powder in my bag too."

"Nah... was thinking exlax in thier morning moch's... that of course we should buy them when we get them out of bed at ungodly early in the morning."

"Do we have to get out of bed ungodly early?" Dean said with a sigh, knowing he should anyway. "Well, I guess in the spirit of being co operative and compliant, we should get them some caffeine."

"And wake them up ungodly early. Now whether or not we go back to sleep after that is beside the point. " Sam said with a laugh.

"I take back all my previous defenses of you. You are evil." Dean said with a grin. "It'll be fun. So set the alarm, college boy. I'm a slacker, getting up before noon is against my job description."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures" Sam said as he rolled over and set the alarm for 4:45 am.


	2. Chapter 2

Sam entered the motel room with a sigh and tossed his computer case onto the bed all the while tugging at his tie as though it were a hangman's noose. "This is getting us no where." He grumbled. "Short of walking up to him and saying 'Christo' with a big come kill me grin on my face I have no way of proving this guy is possessed."

"Aww...bad day at work sweetie?" Dean said as he tossed a pretzel at Sam. "No better on my front. The guys at the bars just love the guy. He's the best thing that every happened to Lawrence, you'd think he'd invented beer or something."

"I know. For a bad guy he's involved in a lot of good works." Sam said getting a beer to go with the pretzel. "He's too good to be true. One of those people destined to be assassinated and martyred"  
"I thought that was me. Oh sorry. Executed and martyred. I always screw those two up." Dean said. "Dude, Hitler stabilized Germany's economy during the Depression. Doesn't make him a good guy." He pointed out. He'd gotten that little tid bit off the History Channel when Sam thought he was fast asleep.

"I didn't say he was necessarily good. Seriously too good. But it makes it harder to find the dirt necessary. " He tossed back a long drink of beer. "But they say the anti-christ starts out as a hero."

"Sure, we'll go with that." Dean said. "Course, we should also take out Captain America while we're at it." He shook his head. "Playing intern was your idea. I say we break into his house."

"Easier said than done. I'll see what I can do to make that easier. Trust me, presidential candidates do not go unprotected"  
"True. So you get me his schedule, and you knock him off it. I can get into the house." Dean said. He had no doubt on that. Sometimes getting out was harder, but getting in, no problem.

"We go in." Sam said. "We can't afford to go in someplace alone like that. If you get caught..." He shook his head. "No."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Fine. But you worry too much." Dean said. "We'll go in, see if we can find some sort of blood altar or something. Maybe child porn. We could bring down the campaign with that at least. Buy time."

"Maybe." Sam said with a nod. "One of us has to" He said with a smile he didn't feel. If Dean weren't involved in this mess, he would go about things differently, but he didn't trust Quillon to live up to his end of things.

"Look, maybe we can use the FBI guys to our advantage. Tell 'em we can't get close enough to see what's on the up and up with all that security around them." Dean suggested. He wasn't fond of the idea, but he also wasn't fond of his neck on the chopping block. Which was how it felt, waiting for the ax to drop at any moment. He wanted this job over, one way or another.

"It's an idea. Wish I could say the worst they could do is say no." Sam said and sighed. "But it's the best chance we've got. If nothing else maybe they can provide a cover job for you or something"  
"We'll see." He said as he took Sam's phone. And dialed the contact number to Quillon. "Hey, we on a secure line or whatever?"

"Secure enough. You two gotten enough information to satisfy your consciences yet?"

"Not even close." Dean said. "The guy seems like a stand up guy so far. Course, we can't get close to anything other than sound bites for his campaign. You want us to do this without you? It'll take a while to crack the Secret Service they've got around him. And his own security. Not to mention whatever demonic security he has. By then he could be president."

"I wouldn't advise that." He said. "Wait too long and I'll have to inform the senator that he has an escaped mental patient in his employ." Quillon was amused and it crept into his tone. "What are you asking for? Me to open the door for you? I thought you were on the most wanted list for a reason, Winchester."

"I thought it was my stunning good looks." Dean said. "Exactly. I'm on the federal most wanted list. And he's surrounded by federal security. How do you expect me to get around that? You think you feds don't have my face memorized, along with all my other teammates on the Most wanted team?"

"That's not my problem. I would suggest you not be seen." He was told. "Unless you think your brother isn't up to the job."

Fed up, Dean simply hung up on Quillon. "That guy's an asshole." Dean said with a scowl. "Okay,, we're back to square one. Yea us." He scrubbed his face with his hands for a moment. "Any traces of sulfur around him at all"  
"No, but I was thinking about something. This guy is government, and possessed... what are the chances he doesn't recognize the name Winchester?" Sam asked. "Maybe I should just... start playing the part"  
"Which part? The part of a Winchester or the part of one of the special children? Because if it's the latter...gotta say...bad idea." Dean said. "I mean, hello? Either way the Winchester sent the yellow eyed demon and his freaky green eyed boyfriend back to hell. Either the Winchester normal guy or the special Winchester kid. Either way, you kinda lose."

"He knows my name, couldn't get in without using my real name. It's probably sitting there, waiting on me to make a move, and if we don't make a move soon, you wind up in a federal prison and they have me again anyway. Maybe it's time to choose my battles."

"And you haven't been so far?" Dean asked. Though he knew they hadn't. They'd let the battles choose them, fighting whatever they came across. "Okay, you play the big bad special Winchester, and I get to be the criminal Winchester. Keep him away from his house, I'll take out whoever's there"  
Sam scowled. "And if they aren't demonic henchmen, or even evil dupes, that could be a problem." He told his brother. "No... you get inside and get hidden somewhere and wait until I need you... cause one way or another I will need you. He will either think that I am a nut job or show his demon side and try and recruit, control or kill me"  
"Oh yeah. Sounds like a good time to be had by all." Dean said, shaking his head. "Fine. I'll go armed for bear, and see what we turn up. Liked my plan better though." Gave him something to other than...waiting. 

"I know, but I can't help feeling that Quillon has his own agenda. There is something lurking under the surface with him and I don't know what it is. It's part of the reason I don't want to just go in spewing Latin now and asking questions later. I don't know. It's the whole pawn thing I suppose. Makes me paranoid."

"I'm not enjoying it either." Dean pointed out. "Dude, we mess up, I get to go to prison and you get to go to a nice padded room. But if we're wrong...wow...I can't even think about that. Think we can just go to ground and forget about this?"

"We gotta get the others to ground first. Get a message to them somehow. Once they are safe we can... do what we have to do." Sam couldn't risk the others like him any more than he could risk his brother. They were counting on him to lead them... to something... right now he figured that something was safety.

"And somehow find that sword you keep dreaming about. You sure you're not just reenacting a scene from some girlie movie you saw? Or maybe you went macho and are dreaming of Braveheart." Dean said with a chuckle.

"Don't remember too many faceless angels in that one...beside... didn't care for the ending." Not exactly how he wanted to go. It was theatrically spectacular, and almost historically accurate. Still not what he wanted his destiny to be. Especially since it would mean that Dean had died first in order for anything like that to actually happen.

Dean laughed. "Dude, I've had a couple of dreams with some faceless women...and let me tell you, they were NO angels. Though I really did like the ending of those dreams..." He said with a grin. "Relax, we'll do one thing at a time. Can't do too many, else we're liable to make a mistake and get caught."

Sam nodded. "Yeah... I'll see what I can do about letting him know I know and don't care." Sam said with a laugh. "Without jumping up and down and begging for death. after that... we'll just have to see how it goes. Right now... I want pizza."

Dean laughed. "You're in luck. I ordered some. Should be here in a few. Picked up beer while you were working hard, or hardly working, whichever." Dean said as he closed the book he was researching. 

"It's work. Not physically taxing but it's work. It's okay. Makes me glad I changed my mind about the whole politics thing." There had been a teacher at Stanford who had been pushing Sam that direction, hard.  
"Dude, you never would have made it in politics." Dean said, shaking his head. "The dirty linen in the closet, namely me and Dad, well some reporter would have discovered us and there goes your career." He pointed out. "Beside, you're too good for politics. Can't lie to save your ass." Maybe Dean's but not his own.

"That's the thing though... I can... if it's for something I believe in. Carter and Clinton survived their whacked out siblings... usually it's not so much lying as being confident about the wrong things, or too blind to see what's going on around you in higher level politics. Grass roots level... things are a lot simpler, cleaner cut boundaries."

"I can see it now, Sammy." Dean said as he got up to pay for the pizza, laying it on one of the small tables and opening the box, giving the steaming pizza an appreciative whiff first. "Samuel Winchester, town board president. There's a difference between being a politician and being a leader. Politicians try to please everyone while doing nothing. Leaders, they, well, lead."

"The ones that do both... those are the ones you have to watch out for." There had been precious few of those in the world. And Sam suspected that they were only worshiped in retrospect, probably hated while in office. 

"Yeah, especially if they might be demons." Dean said, eating the gooey cheese off his pizza first. "Then that's a bad bad thing"  
"A very bad thing... and McKendrick seems to be keeping everyone happy while he is doing his thing and getting things done. To be honest I think at the very least he is dirty... probably is possessed but I don't want to risk it. " He took a piece of pizza. "So I will start getting a little more obvious tomorrow and get this dog and pony show on the road."

"I'm gonna see what I can find out about Quillon while I'm at it. The guy just rankles my nerves." Dean said. "He said we knew him, or met him at least. Might be something in the journal or one of Dad's friends knows something..."

"The name sounds familiar but he is just a couple of years older than you. I don't know... I guess we can ask Bobby or Uncle Josh." He said. The last time he had spoken to Joshua York had been to tell him how the faith healer he had turned them on to had worked out. York was the only man that John Winchester had ever willingly given his respect to. Had to admire a man like that.

"I'll ring him up while you're playing good little intern." Dean said with a chuckle. "It'll keep me out of trouble. Or at least major trouble. But if we could take the both of them down, I'd be all smiles for, like, a week."

"Yeah I know...was thinking about that myself. Get Quillon out of the picture and then exorcise the Senator." Sam said with a grin.

"Great minds think alike. I just thought of it first because, well, my brain isn't being suffocated by fluffy hair." Dean said with a smirk.

"Dude, get over the hair." Sam said as he opened his second beer. "You're just jealous cause you never got away with growing yours long."

"After I turned fourteen, I didn't WANT it long. There is a difference." Dean said. Though it was true, Dean towed the line their father drew a lot more than Sam ever had. Then again, that was pretty much the only line that Dean towed, while Sam tended to toe every line BUT that one.

"That's because you had a girly face at 14." Sam pointed out. "Me... I have too many angles for short hair. Makes me look like a 12 year old hawk."

"Now, now." Dean said. "Don't hate me because I just happen to be beautiful." He said with a chuckle. "Fine. But if some old lady tries to braid it, don't say I didn't warn you."

"Dude, it's not that long." He said with a laugh. "And isn't beautiful one of those ... girl things? Dude, did you just admit you're girly?"

"Nope." Dean said with a smirk. "Quoting classic pop culture. You should watch more TV and less porn."

"Dean, I watched it once and you are fixated on it... get over it, or I'll cut off your quarter supplier."

"Once that I know of." Dean pointed out. "And you really don't want to give me free time. You know, to do laundry. Buy shampoo. Things like that."

"I sniff the shampoo and conditioner now. And I look at my clothes before I put them on. I still haven't forgiven you for either of those." Sam said. He had, but he hadn't forgotten or let down his guard. You never knew when Dean would get bored again.

"Dude, you're paranoid." Dean said with a smirk as he ate his pizza. "I'll call Andy from my phone," the unbugged one, "and see where they all stand." The one he had thrown a major tantrum over to Quillon, stating that while they were making sure it wasn't a bomb, they'd fried it. He'd accepted a replacement (and bugged one) in return that he ordered pizza on and pranked their guards.

"It's not paranoia if someone really does put Nair in your shampoo and itching powder in your underwear." Sam pointed out.

"Sam, I did it once, and you are fixated on it. Get over it." Dean said, saying Sam's previous words right back to him. "All right, fine. No Nair and no itching powder. I promise."

Sam laughed. "Yeah... right." He said. "I'm gonna get a shower and hit the sack. Busy day taunting demons who want to rule the free world tomorrow."

"Ambition is a great thing." Dean said as he finished his pizza while Sam showered.

Dean woke up the next morning and went for coffee. Sam ran a little late, so he had time to change, grab the coffee and leave for his job. Dean sat on the bed and called Joshua York.

"Joshua? It's Dean." He said. He hadn't spoken to Joshua since Nebraska. Not because of any animosity or falling out, but because Joshua and Dean weren't big talkers. They talked when they needed to.

"Dean... I heard about your father... both times I suppose. " The sympathy was in his tone, but there was no need to say the words. They were just words and Dean would know what he meant anyway.

"Yeah, that pretty much sucked. Both times." Dean said. "We're in Kansas, actually. Wow, I swore once I'd never come back here, now I'm here at least once every few months. Funny how the word turns. Anyway, there's this fed from homeland security that has me pretty much over a barrel. His name is Thomas Quillon, he says he met us as kids. Ring a bell?"

"Thomas Quillon...Must be Junior, cause the Thomas Quillon I know passed away not too long ago. A serious case of old age. He was our Colonel when your Dad and I were in the service." He hmmed. "You know, I think he did have a son. You remember when you were young and that shifter took Sam? Right after that we headed back toward your minister friend's place and took care of a poltergeist in the next town over. We took you boys with us when we were in the research stage. Tommy was about 14 at the time, I think"  
"Yeah I do remember him." Dean said, though he tried hard to never think about that time in his life. "Well, he's got us blackmailed but good now. Seems there's a problem he can't handle, so he called us up. And threatened me with federal prison and Sam with the looney bin."

"I saw your face on a few posters, the prison thing I get. Low , but it's a Quillon thing to do. But a looney bin? What the hell does he have over Sam? And how much trouble are you in, son"  
How much to tell Joshua without getting Sam and the others like him put on a hunt list? "Well, they did get footage of us destroying New Orleans. Never looks good." Dean said. "And I kinda sorta broke into a government facility to kinda break Sam out after he got himself caught...blew it to kingdom come too. Bobby was in on that one."

"Caught... as in arrested? Or caught as in kidnapped?" This was tricky. He knew the government had their covert think tanks. He just couldn't understand what they would want with Sam Winchester.  
Dean sighed. He needed help. And Joshua was a man who demanded answers. And not half ass answers either. "Um...Joshua...how much have you heard about children who are special? Have you heard of a nutcase named Gordon Walker?"

"Nutcase is a kind word." He had met Walker, and damned near handed him his ass, but he was good at what he did, so he had let him walk away. York didn't put up with much from the hunters he worked with. Usually he was in charge, and you towed the line like a good marine no matter who you were or thought you were. 

"Yeah, well, I'm in a kind mood." Dean said and finished his coffee. Then he spilled the whole story of New Orleans. And his father's last words the first time he had died. The kidnapping and experimentation (torture) by the government. "And if you dare get anyone to hunt my brother, I swear to God I will kill anyone that crosses the threshold."

"Why in hell would I have Sam hunted? That boy's less likely to turn evil than I am." Josh said. "How's he holding up?" Josh had been through Vietnam. He had seen the effects torture had on a man, even the strongest of men, it scarred them for life.

"He doesn't remember most of it. They kept him pretty well drugged." Dean said. "Nothing in his nightmares that I can tell. Except a really weird sword thing. But he's a really weird kid. So that's what Quillon has on us. He's got us checking out a presidential candidate here, to exorcise him, because Quillon says he's possessed. Like I said, over a barrel."

"Is the guy possessed?" Josh asked, first things first, after all. "If he is finish the job and go to ground. If not get the hell out of there. If Quillon is anything like his old man he's a lying snake waiting to bite you in the back"  
"We don't know." Dean said. "Sam's going to throw all the cards on the table today apparently. It's not just us we have to worry about anymore, Sam's got a whole mini society he's leading, of the other kids like him. How did this get so hard and complicated all of a sudden? I just want to hunt and destroy evil. Drink and get laid. Is that too much to ask?"

Joshua laughed. "If that was what you wanted out of life, you should have been a Marine. But even then life is never that simple." He was having a hard time processing all of this. "I'm gonna head that way. You boys get things resolved before I get there, let me know."

"Will do." Dean said as he hung up the phone. Took a shower. Then packed some weapons on himself and headed to the good senator's house, getting himself (after some subterfuge and distraction), hidden in one of the closets.

Sam entered the man's home office, several files in hand, closing the door behind him. Dean was hidden safely away, and it was show time. "I have those files you wanted." He said and set them down on the desk. Now or never Sam, just do it. As the Senator looked up at him he took a breath. "Christo"  
Senator McKendrick flinched, his eyes turning inky black for just a moment before he recovered and took the files, clearing his throat. "Thank you." He said, opening one of the files. "So," he said conversationally. "Now you know."

"Yeah... I know. You've got others sniffing around too." He said as he pulled up a chair. "Johnson is sending over a file on the Hardwick commission. We may have a little trouble with them following through on their contribution promises"  
"Others should know to leave well enough alone." Allen said. "I'm not worried about Hardwick. They'll come around, they always do. So, is this where you try to exorcise me?" He asked, almost amused.

"No." Sam said with a faint laugh and sighed. "This is where I ask for your help... or perhaps to find a way for us to help each other. It's not Hardwick who is a problem. It's a man named Quillon from homeland security. "  
Allen put his papers down and sat back in the chair, looking at his young intern. "Homeland Security doesn't know what to do with me. I expect that's why you're here. Is your brother hiding somewhere in the house as well?"

"Yeah... making sure I don't get hurt." Sam said. If the demon suspected, then he would find Dean easily enough. Better to play it off casually, than have it blow up in their faces. "He doesn't trust me in here alone. He's a bit over protective after what I went through not too long ago. We didn't want to act until we knew for certain what was actually going on. Now I don't know that I want to act at all. Had about all I want to take from the government and their plans for me. "  
"Everyone's got plans for you, Sam." Allen said. "It's hard to accept, I know, all these people coming in and trying to position you in certain ways, but everyone is. Including your brother I would suspect. But wow, you and your brother have certainly made things hard for everyone involved, haven't you? So what does Quillon have on you that has you all fed up?"

"The government abducted me a few months back and put me in a... lab... that was masquerading as a mental hospital. Dean came to rescue me... so they have charges of domestic terrorism against him and threats of locking me up in a mental hospital. Then there is a matter of the tracking device he has implanted next to my brain stem. " Sam was angry just thinking about it all. Remembering what Dean thought that he didn't. Not all of it, not the memories of his future self, but he clearly remembered everything else.  
"That sounds like a government thing to do." Allen said. "There were other children taken also if I recall." He shrugged. "I'm from a different generation." Obviously, he was nearing forty. "They don't even know to look for me. These normal people, fighting what they don't understand."

"There were... most of them were lost in the explosion." A lie. but he wasn't going to admit to anything in front of a demon. "I guess it would make sense that there were generations before mine, since I know there are infants being chosen still. So... where does this leave us?" Sam asked bluntly. "I don't want to sign up to be your pawn either, but this situation... Rock and hard place doesn't even begin to cover it"  
"I don't need a pawn. I have a whole staff of pawns." Allen said. "Protege would be nice. Groom you for what you were meant for anyway. Do you really think it was a coincidence that you chose law? Political science would have been good also, but law is a close second."

"I dropped Poli-sci." Sam said eying the demon. This was a slippery slope at best. "Okay... then we have Quillon to deal with, my brother to clear and a gps chip to get out of my neck with out turning me into a vegetable... But first... before this goes any further... what exactly is it I was meant for... in the eyes of the demonic community. Why me?"

"I don't know why you any more than I know why me." Allen said comfortably. "It just is. But we were meant to be leaders. Not sheep following the crowd. People who make a difference, one way or another. Who shape the future and what is to come."

"Sounds like a recruitment speech in the societies." Sam said shaking his head. "I'll admit to not being sheep, but I don't know about being a leader." He said, and that was truth. It was the one thing he was uncomfortable with as far as the order was concerned. That he was the one they followed. His own life was such a mess, how could he lead anyone else?  
"You need to step up to the plate, or get off the field." Allen said. "How's that?"

"I tried getting off the field. " Sam said honestly. "Doesn't work with everything yanking me in all manner of directions." He shook his head. "I can't believe I am having this conversation... with someone I was sent to exorcise. Okay... I'll step up to the plate, be the protege...so long as you help me take care a couple problems. I'll tell Dean it's a bust, and you thought I was a nut case spouting Latin out of nowhere"  
"Or tell him the truth." Allen suggested. "That you've come up with a better plan, and that's to pit me and Quillon against each other." He gave Sam an amused look as he picked up the file again. "I've been in politics too long to not be able to read through someone."

Sam laughed. "There is that. You have to admit it's a better plan than taking on a demon, then hoping that Quillon keeps his word."

"Besides, it keeps everyone in one piece. You didn't think it would be so easy to exorcise me, did you?" Allen said. "So report back to them that I'm possessed, and it's taking longer than expected because I'm a nasty son of a bitch. That will buy time for your brother."

"If I had thought it was easy, we wouldn't be having this conversation." Sam pointed out. "Fine... I'm going to go find Dean and explain things to him. " Dean is going to kill me, he thought as he got up. "Thanks by the way... half expected that whole pinned to the wall, bounced around like a rag doll treatment." Of course Sam could dish out a little of that himself now.  
"Why would I do that? Whether you realize it or not, admit it or not, we're on the same side here, Sam." Allen said.

"I'm not sure I'm ready to think about that too much." Sam said as he headed toward the door. "But right now... I'll stay where the choices are mine, not something rammed down my throat, not where my brother is being threatened." He was being honest there, but he hoped that place wound up being far from anything demonic. "No one touches my brother." He almost shuddered remembering the last time he had said that phrase, when he had crushed the would be assassin with nothing more than an angry thought. 

"Noted." Allen said with a nod. Yes, this one could go far with just the right amount of pushing and guidance.

Sam left the room feeling dirty. Like he had just prostituted himself. This was dangerous. Possibly even more dangerous than Quillon's threats and coercion. But it was the only out he could see. It took a little while to find Dean, but he finally opened the right door. "Let's take a walk." He said. 

Now Dean was confused. "A walk?" He said as he stepped out of the closet. "What do you mean a walk? Dude, come on, we got a job to do. Let's go do it."

Sam didn't say anything else, just lead the way over to the doors outside. He didn't want to be over heard by anyone or anything. He walked out into the middle of the lawn and waited for his brother. "He's possessed alright... but we aren't going to exorcise him right now... we need him to get rid of our Quillon situation first. "  
"Oh yeah, not doing what the bastard wants is a real way to get rid of it." Dean said, shaking his head. "So the big plan is to pit those two against each other and hope hometown boy comes out on top?"

"Yeah... the demon likes the idea." Sam said, shaking his head. "Saw right through it. In the mean time I get to play intern and we'll sort it out as we go. Gonna try to have him get this thing out of my neck. One more savage head ache and I swear I am going to take it out on the keystone cops they have watching us"  
Dean sighed. They'd been backed into another corner. All he wanted to do was fight his way out of that. But right now, he couldn't. Not without endangering Sam and all the others. "All right. Guess that means I don't have to be the well kept secret anymore then"  
"Yeah... I'm going to try and milk this for all it's worth, Dean." He explained the conversation with McKendrick. "So he is a demon possessing another of of the kids like me. An older generation. Although it kinda seemed like they had merged or something. He was talking about himself like he was one of us... but his eyes flashed black so I know he is possessed. " Sam shook his head. "Not a fun thought. Makes me want to get that anti-possession sigil tattooed some where"  
"I think that's a good idea. Or at least with black magic marker. Worked for me." Dean pointed out. Of course, that's how his brother had ended up possessed in the first place, because it worked a little too well. "Okay, we'll do it this way. See how it goes. Joshua's coming into town. He's a little concerned we're in over our heads on this one." And in some moments, it certainly felt that way.

"Joshua... well that will be interesting." Sam said. "We'll see how it turns out. Let's go inside. No point in hiding that you are here, and lunch is usually pretty good around this place. Who knows? Maybe we can get you a paycheck while we are sorting all this out. " Sam was hoping that McKendrick would eat Quillon for breakfast, but he figured it wasn't likely to happen any time soon, not until Quillon became an actual threat.

"Food? Now there's an idea." Dean said. He rarely turned down food, if he ever did, that was a sign that something was seriously wrong. Either with the situation or with him. Not that the situation wasn't messed up, it definitely was. "Okay, so McKendrick knows. And hasn't killed us. Undecided if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Quillon is going to be pissed, I hope he pops a vein in his forehead."

"Yeah... he isn't killing us... he wants... wants me to become his protege for lack of a better word. I told him I would stick around so long as my choices were my own.. and no one messes with you." Of course that was just until they found a way out of the mess they were in. He had no intention of being an apprentice to a demon politician.  
"Dude, I don't know what bothers me more. That you're a little protege for a demon, or a protege for a politician." Dean said as they made their way into the kitchen to find some food. "We're really up shit's creek, aren't we? I half expect Joshua to smack some sense into us."

"We didn't create this situation. Not much his smacking us around would do other than make my head hurt again. " Sam said as he took another muscle relaxer. He was living on the things. It was the only thing that made the headaches stop. The tracking device was deep in the muscle of his neck near the brain stem and it made his neck stiffen up like a board. 

Dean watched Sam pop another pill. "Dude, you need to find yourself a hot chick to massage that out. Even if it doesn't work, you get a massage out of it." Dean said. 

Sam laughed. "Yeah cause massaging the muscle around the foreign object is gonna help. What I need is a damned neurosurgeon"  
"Yeah. Except I doubt any neurosurgeon that would know about these things is NOT working for them." Dean pointed out. "Andy's got a couple of the strong telekinetics working on it." He offered hopefully.

"I know. I'm holding on." Sam said as he found food for the two of them and heated it up in the microwave. Although he was still afraid to let any one even try and touch the thing. He could end up dead or worse'  
"Good." Dean said with a nod as Sam got their food. "Can't wait until this is over. I mean, come on, working for the feds? even if its under duress and we're working against them at the same time? do you know how lucky I am that I'm not broken out in hives?"

Sam laughed. "Yeah, and I'm working for ... well... you know... Dad is probably rolling in his grave." He didn't think his life could get any crazier. "Guess this proves that the dead really don't know anything about the future. "  
"I think Dad was just having an episode of wishful thinking." Dean said with a sigh. "We should have known better. They had the perfect time to grab you when I was laid up in traction though, that's what I don't get. I was out of commission and you were suffering from some serious sleep deprivation."

"I don't think ole yellow eyes had crawled out of hell yet." Sam said. "And we moved around so much I don't think the government knew I was what they were looking for until he turned up"  
"Oh I'm sure Jo helped in that regard too." Dean grumbled. That girl, he'd probably never forgive. And if he never saw her again, it would be too soon. "Okay, so we'll play good boys for bit." Bide their time. Hope like hell this turned out right.

"Yeah. I will see what we can do to keep you legitimately in the building. Just in case it goes south. Or, you can pretend to be doing research and go back to hunting for the sword. We still have to find that thing. "

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Dean said. Hunting for a mystical sword that his brother saw in a vision while under the influence of some heavy psych drugs. Sure, sounded reasonable. "I'll get on it." Because Sammy said it existed, and as far as his visions went, he hadn't been wrong yet.

Sam nodded. "Good." He told him as he finished his lunch. "In that case, I will walk you out and then get back to work. Although on the bright side, I get a paycheck today. We can have steak tonight." A rare treat for the boys to go to a real restaurant instead of take out.

"Ooh, something to look forward to." Dean said as they walked to the front door. "Be careful Sammy. And if things get hinky, call. I mean it."

"I will." Sam said. "Give Quillon a call. Tell him we found proof.. but McKendrick isn't going to go down easy. It was Allen's suggestion. I figure, why not"  
"Sounds good." Dean said. Though a plan organized by a demon would never go down good. But right now, that was all they could do. He walked around the block to his car and dialed up Quillon.  
"What the hell kind of demon are you sending us after?" He demanded when Quillon picked up. "Do you even know what he is? Or are you just talking out of your ass?"

"Are you having difficulty doing your job, Winchester? I thought you grew up fighting demons." Quillon said, an amused undercurrent to his tone. "I suppose I could call in another team to do the job. Of course that would put you and your brother in dire straits. " He knew this wasn't going to be an easy job. That was why he had cornered the Winchesters.

That and... personal satisfaction.

Dean laughed. "If you had another team better than us, you wouldn't have blackmailed us." He said. "Get over yourself. You're the one who wanted status reports. That's the status report. We've got it in hand, but it's tricky. So you need to just back off. Oh and those guards following us, they're in the way. Pull them off. You've got a chip in Sam's neck, that's all you need."

"And how is little Sammy doing?"Quillon asked. He remembered the spoiled child he had met so many years ago. It seemed he was still pampered and spoiled. "Has he stopped whining about that yet"  
"I haven't stopped whining about it. That's all you should be worried about." Dean said in a perfectly conversational tone. Which, if anyone knew him, knew that wasn't a good sign, given the circumstances. "Get your guards off us. Cause when this goes down, it's gonna be messy. And I don't need your idiot fed men shooting us before we're done. Because if they do, well, that's really bad for you, isn't it?"

"Which leaves me wondering why you want to be free of them so badly. They aren't going to shoot you in the process of an exorcism. What is it you want to go do?" Quillon didn't think there was anything in the works but he had to give Winchester a hard time. The man's attitude demanded it. Arrogant to the core just like his father.  
"I don't know them. And they work for you. Both meaning I don't trust them not to do something stupid at a very bad time. Besides, it's incredibly hard to get laid when they're skulking about like parents ready to catch me for breaking curfew." Dean said. "If they knew half of what was going on, you wouldn't have needed us. Which means they're ignorant federal employees you're keeping in the dark. It's bad for business, got it?"

"I'll tell them to back off. For now. You screw up or pull anything and you won't be able to wipe your ass without one of them watching you"  
"See? Now was that so hard?" Dean asked with a laugh. "Hey, think the government will fund a trip to the strip club. All work and no play makes Dean a bored guy." He said with a smirk, even if Quillon couldn't see it. He couldn't help it. He was going to keep going until Quillon hung up on him. He could drive and talk, and later read and talk at the same time.

"No. Definitely not on the expense account. ALthough I'm sure your brother could loan you a little money. I understand McKendrick pays his interns well."

"Man, your job sucks." Dean said. "You should put in an acquisition form in triplicate for that addition, I'm telling you. Fine, well our expense account sucks. So I'm going to be using one of our cards for the luxuries. You know, like gas, rock salt, chalk. Your guys ruined our sanctified Bible when you went through our stuff, so I have to find another one. That delay is ALL on you"  
Quillon growled. "We'll add a little more to the account." He said. And then hung up. Pleased, Dean went back to the motel to start his research.  
S&S&S&S&S&S&S&S&S&S 

Sam went back to his desk and settled in to the thick pile of paper work that had become his daily existence and found that he liked it. It was the strangest situation he had been in. Enjoying his work, while caught between the scylla and charibdis. He didn't know which evil was more evil, and didn't want to be trapped by either of them, and playing both ends against the middle was a dangerous game since he and Dean were in the middle.

He printed out a few things and headed back to the senator's office with the latest items needing his attention and signatures. 

McKendrick was going over a paper and held out his hand for the ones Sam was bringing him. He looked them over and nodded. "This is good." He said. "Politics is easy once you get used to the ropes. A lot of it is just subterfuge and misdirection, something you're good at anyway."

"Yeah, that's why I dropped Poli-sci in college. Back then I wanted away from all the misdirection and subterfuge in life. " He laughed. "So I took up law... yeah that worked real well." More misdirection, subterfuge and creative interpretation.

"It's in you, Sam. Can't deny it. You just get to decide what you do with it." McKendrick said. And that's where the Winchesters were having some moral dilemnas. There was no denying that Allen was doing good work. Increased farm aid, school aid, money for social services. Managed to get more disaster relief funds headed toward Kansas than originally anticipated. Sure, he was demonic. But he was...well...beneficial.

Sam took a seat. "Do I?" he asked. He didn't want to sound whiny, as Dean would perceive it. "Doesn't feel like a whole lot of control in my life right now." He took a seat and looked at the man. A demon... possessing someone like him. "I don't have alot of control over the abilities either. It's pure luck I haven't killed Quillon's men so far." The amount of pain he was in alone would be enough to set him off, the threats to take him back to that nightmare... threats to have his brother tried and executed... he had already killed to protect Dean once.  
"And I'm the demonic one." Allen said with a soft laugh. "Amazing, isn't it, what people will do in the name of god and country? Amazes me every day. Look, it's all about control and focus. You either have it, or you don't."

"Then I guess I'm screwed because I don't." Not that he recognized anyway. He didn't think about all of the times he could have let loose and hadn't. He simply remembered the one time he had lost his temper and turned a man into so much jelly in his own skin. 

"If that was true, everyone but you and me would be dead in this building." Allen pointed out. "Now you just have to focus. You have it in you, you're one of the favorites after all, right? It's not for no reason."

Sam nodded. "I haven't figured out the reason yet. Last time I saw ole yellow eyes I was being tortured and he was gloating so we didn't really communicate well." Sam sighed. "Guess that means I have to try and use the damned powers, doesn't it?"

"You sent him to hell, Sam. That's not a nice place, even for demons." Allen pointed out. "You really can't blame him for being upset. But you should try them, see what you're capable of. It's a rush. But that in itself is a test. The ones that go overboard burn out."

"Go mad from it." He had seen that with Andy's brother and Max. "And for the record... I'll send him back to hell again if I get the chance. He killed my parents... possessed my brother... I'm glad hell is an unpleasant place for demons"  
"From what I understand, possessing your brother was more torture." Allen said with a chuckle. "And it was just to keep you safe and whole, in a weird way. He's not exactly warm and cuddly. But you know what they say about the road paved with good intentions."

"Yeah...well that's where he wound up... and I can't help but feeling that's where the world is headed too... when demon's are running things... and lobbying for heath care reform... " He chuckled softly. "I'm not going to forgive him. The only reason he wanted me safe and whole is because he wants to use me. Then again you want to use me too, don't you? You're just more personable about it than everyone else"  
Allen gave him a stern look. "You're using me too, aren't you? In your own way? Distract Quillon off your brother. Give you tips so you don't decimate a city when you get in a fender bender. Don't start acting self righteous with me. You lost that right the minute you failed to exorcise me and involved me in your little plot."

Sam locked gazes with him then, not backing down one iota under that gaze. He had stared down John Winchester after all, faced demons intent on tearing him limb from limb. "You asked for a 'protoge'. These little tips you say I am using you to get go along with that whole apprentice situation. And let's be honest, I might be keeping Dean safe, which is the single most important thing to me... but in the grand scheme of things... you'll be getting a lot more in the long term. Self righteous? No. Just calling it as I see it. It's my choice... but it doesn't change things much now, does it"  
"Now let's not confuse the situation. You infiltrated my staff. Your brother was hiding with weapons in my house. You two came to me. To me. I've never bothered you, never raised a blip on your radar. You're here because someone else backed you into a corner. Not me." Allen pointed out.

"And yet, I waited to make sure you were a danger before acting, backed into a corner or not. I chose to come to you as an option instead of simply following orders. Chose to tell you there was a bastard out for your hide instead of finding a huge magnet and frying this thing in my head and going to ground." It would stop the thing from tracking him... but would do nothing about the pain he was in. 

"He's always been after me." McKendrick said with a chuckle as he went through files. "I'm surprised he got so inventive this time. Sending someone like us to eliminate me because he can't do it himself. Jealousy is such a petty emotion."

"Wait... someone like us... but... I'm not ... " Sam eased back in his chair and thought about it. "Son of a bitch. You're not a demon... you're one of the previous generation..Quillon too?" Sam asked.  
"Every generation has a handful." Allen said. "And some are more handfuls than others. Feeling slighted. Many are gifted, Sam. But few are chosen. The rest are...spares. Just in case. After all, illnesses, homicide and accidents can't be prevented. Quillon is spare parts. He thinks he's more important than he is. And he knows about you. If he succeeds in coming after me, he'll go after you next. And the next one. He hopes to be the last one standing."

"Won't let that happen." Sam said, he would make sure that HIS generation survived and that they could find and bring in future generations. There were no spare parts where Sam was concerned. But then, Sam didn't want to tow the demonic line. Didn't want to become the next in a long list of anti-christs. "He'll make a mistake along the way... "  
"I'm counting on it." Allen said with a small smile. "He's already starting, sending you in after me. You're not a cold blooded killer. You're not a reckless hunter. He should have known that."

"Maybe it was me he was trying to kill first..." Sam said with a frown. That made him worry about Dean. What would Quillon do when things stopped going how he wanted?

"Never know with him." Allen said. "I'm not the one you need to worry about." He had an agenda, and he planned to follow it no matter who got in his way. But Sam had his own path. He'd hate to interrupt it.

"I know... why do your eyes change?" Sam asked. "It's why I thought you were a demon"  
"I'm not a demon." Allen said. "Not really. Just comes with the territory. You wouldn't have been able to exorcise me anyway. But there's enough that God's name is a little irritating. Besides, I was waiting for you to do that."

"You had to have recognized the name all things considered... why did you hire me? Surely not just because another Bonesman asked"  
"Nothing to do with them. It was because of the name. Wanted to see if it was really Sam Winchester that would have the audacity to come strolling into my campaign. You didn't disappoint." Allen said with a chuckle. "Which is good."

"I needed to find out if you were possessed or not. Seemed the best way, and just happened to have the right connections. This keeps up I might just have to see about getting an apartment instead of a hotel room. " He said as he got to his feet, preparing to go back to work.

"A lot of the interns stay over on Crossing Street." Allen said as he picked up another file to read. "It's reasonable, and away from the police station."

"I'll look into it, thanks." Sam said and went back to his desk to finish out the day before picking up his paycheck. He waited out front for Dean.  
The Impala came rumbling up to the curb right when Dean said it would. "Didn't find squat." Dean said, about the sword. "But I got dipshit Fedman to pull his guys off us. That's progress, right?"

"Yeah it is" Sam said getting in and closing the door. "New development. McKendrick isn't possessed... but somewhere along the way he developed that whole aversion to anything holy. And just to make matters worse, it turns out that according to him, Quillon is one as well... and is trying to get rid of me and McKendrick because we're special and he's spare parts" Sam shook his head. "You know there are days when I really wish I didn't know things"  
"Okay." Dean said a bit wide eyed. That was an unexpected development to say the least! "Think I might want to join you on the know nothing train, actually. Great, so he's human. And so is Quillon. Limits our options."

"And it doesn't limit theirs. I don't know... Allen is one of ... well us... and he is doing good things... It makes it hard to want to take him down. Quillon I have no trouble with but McKendrick... this is gonna make me nuts before it's over with. Let's hit the bank and go get dinner. " Sam said with a sigh. 

"He's a politician, Sam. His key to the White House, and leader of the Free World, is to have that record of nice good guy stuff. That's why we don't have a mob boss in Washington." Dean said as they drove to the bank.

"But Dean... I mean... I know he isn't exactly all good, but.. that could have been me... I mean.. I was on that path. Not the White House, but law and politics. Taking him out now would be like saying Gordon was right about me"  
"You say he's already got an aversion to things holy?" Dean reminded him. "That makes you two hardly equitable. This guy's got a choice, or at least he did. So...what are you saying? We wait until he's in the White House and see if he turns all bad? Course, maybe Quillon's not what McKendrick says he is, either. That's the other problem. We can't trust either of them."

"I know... but... I don't know if I trust him or not, but right now I trust him more than I trust Quillon. What I worry about... is .. what if by the time I'm pushing 40 I start having an aversion to holy items"  
"I don't trust either of them. And I'm still planning on shutting them both down." Dean said, even if destroying them literally was now off the table.

"That's going to be harder than it sounds." He said as Dean parked the car. "Stay here." Sam said, not letting him go inside the bank where they might have most wanted lists regularly viewed by employees. He came out 5 minutes later. "So... red meat, real liquor, and I don't know... we'll come up with something else to do tonight."

"Found a steakhouse that looks good." Dean suggested. "We can pick up some liquor on the way home." Because nothing went better with steak than a nice cold beer. At least if you asked Dean. "And Sam...you're not going to turn out like McKendrick. We've already agreed that I won't let that happen."

"If we have a choice." Sam said, looking out the window. It was something he didn't like to think about, but it was always present in the back of his mind. What if they didn't have a choice, the kids like him? What if they were doomed to become monsters in the end? "Steak house sounds good." He said. 

"Sam. You've got a choice. Right now." Dean said. "Either you believe in me or you think I'm going to fuck up and let you down. Which one is it?"

"Of course I believe in you." Sam said, glaring at his brother. "But you aren't God. Some things you might not be able to change or stop. Not to mention you keep throwing yourself in harm's way... you might not be here to stop it"  
"Dad told me to look out for you." Dean said as he stared at the road ahead. "That's the end of that. So I look out for you. Look, you're not going to become evil. You're going to be able to keep praying every day or whatever it is you do. Max and Andy's brother were already nuts by now. You're not. That's a good sign."

"I hope so." Sam said. "I really do. But sometimes... what I did to that man...what I came very close to doing to our not so friendly shadows...it scares me Dean, it scares the hell out of me like nothing else ever has"  
"Then you just gotta learn to control it is all." Dean said. Frankly, what his brother could do scared the crap out of him too. But he wasn't allowed to let on. Because he was the big brother. "So you're saying that it beats clowns?"

"I turned a man to jelly inside his own skin... yeah... it beats clowns. The only thing that beats clowns... but yeah. I mean... it was nothing but anger, he had hurt you and I just... wanted him dead and he was"  
"Sam, the only difference between me and you is that you have Jedi mind powers. I wasn't going to let him live probably either. Killed the shapeshifter over you after all. Just...just get off that train of thought right now." Dean said.

"Sure Dean, I'll do that right away." He said "So how far to that steak house?" He wanted to change the subject. Dean didn't understand. How could he? The only one that did he really couldn't confide in too much because he refused to play Anakin to his Palpatine. God Dean was contagious.

"You're such a bad liar." Dean said with a chuckle. "Here we are. So, the government will chip in a few extra bucks for supplies, but they said no go on strippers. So we're counting on the senator for that. Being a politician and all, he might even get us a discount."

"He's walking that good guy tight rope, remember? No strippers. Besides, I am sure you can scope out the strippers on your own easily enough"  
"True." Dean said with a grin as they walked into the steakhouse and got a booth in the corner. In case they talked about...things. "Can't be all work, that'll drive us crazy."

"I know." Sam said as he took out the ever present flexeril bottle and took another one with the water they had brought to the table. "Maybe this weekend we can take a day and just do ... absolutely nothing anyone else wants us to"  
"Hooters." Dean said. "Come on, man. We never got to go because you got all tranqed by the government. We really need to go. I like their ribs. And one just opened in town..."

Sam began to laugh. "Fine you can go ogle breasts and pretend it's for the ribs and wings. " He teased.  
"Thank you!" Dean said with a laugh. "Seriously man, it's not like you don't look. You do, I know you do. You're a freaking Winchester. And my brother to boot. So you definitely look. Just because you don't have my inventive mind when it comes to follow through doesn't mean you don't look."

Sam laughed and blushed a little. "Never said I don't look. And I don't know... I like a different sort of woman than you do... well... mostly. I liked Cassie"  
"Yeah, that got me far." Dean said with a sigh. "Probably for the best anyway. Those mosquitoes in Missouri, I swore they were a lesser form of demon." He joked. He'd probably never be completely over Cassie, but he was better. 

"They have nothing on the ones in Louisiana." Sam pointed out. "One of the reasons I was glad to get you out of that hospital. As tempting as Tulane was... I didn't like the idea of being carried off by the mosquitos"  
"Not to mention Mardi Gras. Fine for someone like me. You? Gotta seem like an endless parade of clowns. Naked clowns. But clowns." Dean said as their beers arrived.

"Don't remind me." Sam said as he took a drink of his beer, then placed his order with the waitress. "But it's fun to remind you." Dean said. "You know, I learned the word for it too. Coulrophobia."

"It's not a phobia if they really are evil and dangerous. I mean... Look at John Wayne Gacy"  
"Dude! Statistical anomaly." Dean said. "That's like saying all hot chicks are killers waiting to happen. Because from what I read, Bonnie Parker, you know Clyde's girlfriend, was hot."

"Killer clowns... I'm tellin' you Dean... clowns in general are evil. There might be a specific clown or two that isn't but chances are they aren't full time clowns"  
"Dude, you're completely messed up." Dean said, laughing. With all the evil and death they faced every single minute of every single day, teasing his brother about a fear of killer clowns was oddly lightening. "There's more of a chance of a plane crashing to the ground than there is one of the clowns from Barnum and Bailey going around killing"  
"Yeah, but you gotta admit the way life seems to work around us, if there is a killer clown out there, it will come walking around the corner and stare us flat in the face"  
"Uh...dude? It already did. So you had your once in a billion thing." Dean said with a laugh as their food was brought. "Now this is food. We should change location now that I got the G men off our ass"  
"Yeah. was thinking about an actual apartment." Sam said, not sure what Dean would think about that. "Huh." Dean said. "Actual apartment. We're planning on settling here?" He asked. Sure, he'd already broken the promise he'd made to himself to never come back to Lawrence, kept breaking it and breaking it, but that didn't mean he wanted to come back here to live.

"Nope, planning to give the illusion of settling down. After all he wants me to...be his student, and staying in a hotel doesn't give the appearance of stability, ya know. I mean... it could be fun... you could have your own room until this is done. How long has it been since you could say that"  
"Oh a couple of years." Dean said with a laugh. He'd had his own room, of course, whenever he was operating solo while Sam was at college. "You're right, it will be fun. And at least this way you don't have to think of something to do when I decide I need a little action"  
Sam rolled his eyes. "There is that. Just pounding on the walls telling you to keep it down I have to work in the morning." Sam said with a laugh. "So... can you cook? I mean other than spaghettios and mac and cheese?" He asked.  
"Dude, you ate more than that in your childhood, give me a little credit." Dean said with a laugh. "I can barbeque. Some pasta...hey, what makes you think I'm going to be doing the cooking"  
"At least half of it...that is if you don't want to eat a lot of salad and sandwiches." Sam pointed out. "I'm a little limited in the cooking department. I can make meatloaf and spaghetti, and frozen ready made lasagne is my friend."

"Nice. We're going to starve." Dean said with a laugh. "Guess we'll just have to find some pretty girls that know how to cook. Seen any yet?"

"I've seen a couple. But I don't know that I want to bring home someone I work with... especially where I am working." Sam pointed out. "No starving involved... just ... lots of frozen chow I guess." He said with a laugh.

"Dude, I don't work there. Means I can bring them home." Dean said. "I don't care how much he likes you, he ain't gonna hire me for jack. And I wouldn't work for him anyway. It's too...legit looking. Gives me hives."

"What, so now I'm your pimp?" Sam asked with a laugh. "Nice, Dad would be so proud." He looked up at the waitress and smiled as she brought over their refills.

"I prefer the term wingman." Dean said with a laugh as he gave the waitress a smile as well. "Come on, all work and no play makes Sam a dull boy. And Dean a bored boy."

"A bored Dean is likely to wind up super glued to his steering wheel if he isn't careful." Sam pointed out, because a bored Dean was usually the one to start the practical joke wars.

"You're such a killjoy." Dean said with a laugh. "Wonder how those two idiots made out in Hollywood." He mused, remembering the last big prank war. "That was a good one, you get points for that one"  
Sam laughed a little at that. "Yeah... no prank wars until I get rid of this headache. Control is at a minimum right now." He admitted. He hated that.

"We'll figure it out. Maybe your boss can do something about it. Having it removed will sure piss Quillon off, that's for sure." Dean pointed out.  
"Yeah... not sure how many favors I want to ask him about.. Or how much I want to piss off Quillon before we have him taken care of." He didn't want Dean to wind up in prison.  
"Dude, I can take care of myself." Dean reminded him. "I've stayed out of prison this long, right? I'm good. We just need to get your brain stem taken care of"  
"You didn't have homeland security dogging your ass before." Sam pointed out. "And my brain stem is fine right now, it's just the muscles around it that are giving me absolute hell." He explained as he dug into his steak.  
"Still..." Dean said. It was his job to take care of Sam, watch out for the kid. He wasn't doing a top shelf job lately. At least if you asked Dean. 

"Still nothing. I am not going to let them haul you off to jail, because of me. I can deal with a little headache. Gotta learn self control sometime right? So relax and enjoy your steak"  
"I am enjoying my steak." Dean said, a note of petulance creeping into his voice, though he tried to hide it. "I'll figure something out." He mumbled.  
"Dean... don't worry about it. I can handle it until we're done here, then we'll see who Ash and Andy have found to get it out of me." He sighed. "To be honest. getting it out almost scares me more than leaving it in." One wrong move could leave him paralysed from the neck down for life. It wasn't something he was willing to risk just yet. "So for now, let's... leave it alone"  
"Fine." Dean said. "Really, okay. Not like we can do anything about it right now anyway." He said with a sigh. "Besides, can I pick steak houses or not? This is some good steak." Another worry for another day. 

"Yeah it is, I had forgotten how much I liked steak." Sam admitted. The last one he had eaten had been with Jessica. "So what are you gonna be doing with your days? Any leads or anything on where to look next for the sword"  
"I'm getting a list together of curiousity shops and old side shows that somewhat match what you described." Dean said with a shrug. "When this is over, we'll at least have a direction to go to. There are a lot in the Mid West, gotta tell you man"  
"I don't doubt it. People had to have something to entertain themselves when this was a wasteland." He said, knowing that there was a lot of carnivals and side shows that had traveled through this part of the country on a regular basis. "Maybe we can hit a couple this weekend"  
"Sounds good to me!" Dean said, an edge of excitement creeping into his voice. "I could use a normal weekend." Then he laughed at how that sounded. That checking out curiosity shops for a mythical sword was a normal weekend for him.  
"So could I. Not that the job I have bothers me, I love it, but the real job is making me crazy. I need out from under for a couple days. " Sam admitted.  
"Yeah, I can understand that. So we'll do a local road trip." Dean said. "It'll be fun"  
"Cool, we can go over the plans and the list of curiosity shops at... Hooter's." He said, rolling his eyes. He still couldn't believe that he was going to actually go to Hooter's.  
"Thatta boy." Dean said with a grin. "Knew I'd get you around to my plan of thinking sooner or later. Then we can argue over who the hottest Hooter's girl is"  
"You have the weirdest fantasies, I swear." Sam teased as he finished up. "Allen gave me a lead on a place to live. Says a lot of the interns live there and that it's away from the police station."

"A few fantasies would do you some good." Dean said with a laugh. "Yeah, we'll check it out. Or find another place. I don't know, if he recommended it, could be because he wants to watch you"  
"Yeah I know... I thought of that. Trying to find the balance point between all of our problem children." Sam said with a sigh. "I can't find it"  
"Then I'll find it." Dean said. This was his brother's show, but he was a more than willing back up. "Relax right now, okay? We got enough worries and problems tomorrow. Right now, I want to plan our trip to Hooter's and eat some steak"  
"Plan the trip to Hooter's? Dude, it's a bar, what do we need to plan?" He asked. "I heard they have even gone all family oriented over the years. You know... waitresses have to wear shirts and everything"  
"That's what I'm talking about. We might have to scam a little, or sabotage a little to get them back to their old ways. I told you we should have gone years ago, but do you listen to me? Hardly ever"  
"That change happened when we were kids, dude. You know back when Dad couldn't even get us in the door. Now you have to deal with large breasts in tight shirts"  
Dean gave a dramatic sigh. "All right." He said. "I guess I'll make do somehow with these circumstances beyond my control. First I'm possessed, then the Hooter's girls wear tshirts. What is the world coming to"  
"Hell in a hand basket." Sam said. "I'm sorry your dream is tainted by tee shirts." He teased. 

"Fine. Mock me." Dean said. "That's fine. But I'm still getting you into a Hooter's, so I still win"  
Sam laughed. "Dude ... you're fixated." He told his brother. "Gotta wonder if you were bottle fed."

"I have no idea." Dean said, he'd never thought to ask. "I know you were though. Even before Mom died. So why aren't you more fixated Mr Know It All"  
"Who says I'm not... I just have the good taste not to announce it all over the place." Sam said with a laugh.  
"What can I say? I'm looking for the impatient women. The ones I don't have to wine and dine and flatter out of their clothes over a few months." Dean said with a chuckle. "Works out great, because the type of women I'm interested in don't have the patience to finangle me out of my clothes"  
"Dude, please tell me you are careful." Sam said, because that kind of impatience would up getting people dead in scary ways. 

"I've got thin, lubricated, ridged, colored, glow in the dark, flavored..." Dean said with a smirk. "Why, you want some"  
"No.. no... just making sure I didn't have to worry about getting you tested or something." Although he probably should. "So, we can at least drive by the place Allen recommended but I am thinking something a little cheaper...maybe some garage apartment over some old lady's garage.. or a basement appartment. Something where we only sort of have neighbors and it's hard to see into the place"  
"Yeah, we should pick up a newspaper too, see what's around here apartment wise." Dean said. "But we'll drive by. This way I can check out the female interns, since you completely neglected that part of your job"  
"Pervert." Sam teased with a grin, then took a long drink of his beer. 

An hour later they were more than stuffed, and driving by apartment complex that McKendrick had recommended.  
"Doesn't look too bad." Dean said as he slowed down. "Except, of course, for your demon influenced boss recommending it. Does have a pool though. How do the want ads look?" He asked, since he was driving, Sam got the newspaper.

"Not too bad in the grand scheme of things... hoping for cheap so that we can put back some of the money I am getting to run later." He admitted, and living in a motel wasn't as cheap long term as it might sound. "We could always look up Missouri"  
"Thought you said she was visiting her sister or something?" Dean said. "Or you just want to see me knocked around with a spoon? Dude, you got weird fantasies."

"That's not a fantasy, that's standard operational proceedure. you know like Dad and me fighting. " Sam said with a grin as they parked in the parking lot outside the apartment complex.  
"Yeah, yeah. More great memories for me." Dean teased back. "Go on, see if they've got a two bedroom, cause I ain't couching it. I'll see what the girls are like here"  
Sam rolled his eyes and went to speak with the manager, who was apparently expecting them.  
"Of course Mr. Winchester, right this way. We have two units that would be acceptable for yourself and your brother. It depends on if you want accessability to the pool or the view. It may not be much in the day time but the view is quite lovely at night from the balcony." 

"I'll take a look at both, my brother is looking around the grounds. I ahm... take the senator called you then"  
"Oh yes, you come highly recommended from Senator McKendrick. He assures me there is no need to run any sort of credit or back ground check on either of you. I must say that is quite the impressive reference"  
"Thank you... I'll be certain to thank the Senator when I see him tomorrow"  
Dean had managed to strike up a conversation with a group of girls relaxing at the poolside as they went over a few documents for the senator, charming them all with his easy smile and quick comments and nodded toward Sam. Okay, maybe this place would work out for right now.  
"Up stairs or down?" Sam asked figuring he would explain the benefits of no back ground check when they were in private. 

"Upstairs." Dean said. Preferably over an unoccupied unit was unsaid. But upstairs less chance of people walking by.  
"Come on, let's go take a look at it then." Sam said and walked away from his coworkers with Dean. "McKendrick already called over here to tell them we'd be by and arranged for no credit or background checks on us." He told his brother. "That was something I had forgotten about when thinking about places to stay"  
"That's because we hardly ever use our real names." Dean said with a chuckle as he was led away from the girls he was talking to. "Hey, did you know Sabrina likes to read to the blind? That's so...Penthouse Pet answer."

"Currently using my real name... I think he was trying to protect us from all those lovely outstanding arrest warrants. But anyway... it's small but it's bigger than the hotel rooms we have been living in the last few years." Sam said as he let them into the upstairs apartment.  
Dean looked around when they got in there. It was small, compact, fairly easy to defend if need be. "Okay, looks good." He said as he opened the fridge. Plenty of room for beer. "Better than nothing, at least it doesn't look like a discarded set from a 70s porn film."

Sam laughed at that. "It's furnished, and all we need is to stock the kitchen. Can do a little shopping on the way back from... " he sighed, "Hooter's." He shook his head. "The best part is we don't have alot to move in." And he probably wouldn't unpack anyway. Easier that way.  
"Yup. Ideal. Works for me." Dean said as he claimed a room before Sam could. Because being the older brother had to have some perks, right? "So I'm actually going to get you into a Hooter's. Is that a sign of the Apocalypse or something"  
"I will let you know once I actually make it through the door. " Sam said with a laugh. "Don't want to jinx it." God knows every other time Dean had convinced him to go something came up ... like a tranq dart in the neck.  
"Don't want to jinx it...admit it, you want to go." Dean said with a laugh. "All this talk about me dragging you there and it's misogynist and all that...you want to go. Well, let's go"  
"I don't want to jinx it because every time I get near one of those places, something bad happens... usually to me." Sam said with a laugh. "Let's get the paperwork taken care of and head back to the hotel first to get our gear then we'll go to Hooter's"  
"You take care of the paperwork, since you're Mr Responsible, I'll pack up the hotel. By the time I get back and we unpack, we might be in time for happy hour." Dean said with a grin.  
"Works for me... don't forget to scour everything. I know they can keep track of us through me but I wouldn't put it past them to bug something. Quillon is a control freak"  
"Dude, I know the drill. Hell, I taught you the drill." Dean said with a laugh as he made sure he had his keys. "I'll be back in a while. Be sure to tell the girls at the pool that I'm an incredibly nice guy"  
"You're going to ruin my reputation at work, you know that, don't you?" Sam said shaking his head as he followed his brother out the door, so that he could see the manager.  
"Absolutely. It's part of the fun." Dean said with a grin. "I'll see you in a bit." He said as he headed back to the hotel to pack up, and leave no trace they were ever there.  
Sam was waiting down stairs when Dean pulled up. "So, let's get going so that what ever is going to fall on me, can fall." He said with a laugh, even if it wasn't a humorous memory from the last time he had said yes, he supposed he could laugh about it... it was either laugh or scream.  
"Once we get you through the doors, it'll be all right." Dean said with a laugh as Sam got into the car. Dean pulled out of the parking lot and down onto the street, headed for his favorite restaurant. "So the manager is all set, right? No surprises there"  
"No surprises. Apparently getting a recommendation from a senator holds alot of weight when apartment hunting." Sam said with a laugh. "And I checked the place over, it's clean"  
"I'm not surprised. You always were a teacher's pet." Dean said as he pulled into the parking lot. "Not too crowded, we should have some undivided attention. Hey, after the last few...years...we deserve it"  
Sam smiled over at his brother. Dean definitely did deserve it. He had been through so much since Sam had reunited with him. Things he was convinced Dean wrote off for some unknown reason as his due when it wasn't. He deserved a night of unlimited attention from attractive waitresses or anything else he wanted. 

Of course, ask Sam that question again on a different day he would call his brother a pervert and refuse to go. It was a brother thing.  
They made it into the restaurant unimpeded. Even if Sam was constantly checking over his shoulder for...something. Dean was in his element. A game was blaring from the TVs, the beer was on tap, and some of the girls, well, eye candy didn't cover it.  
Sam couldn't help but smile, Dean was like a kid in a candy shop. Then again, their life didn't allow them too many simple pleasures. Didn't allow too many pleasures at all really. Always running, always hunting or fighting to survive. No time for relationships or friendships.  
"Man, the food is good." Dean said as their wings came. The waitresses were hot too, so no complaints there. "See? There's nothing wrong with this place"  
Sam laughed. "No, I suppose not." He said nibbling at the wings. He wasn't hungry really. Especially not with his head hurting. "So where do we start on our trek through curiosity shops"  
"Sam, eat. Or the meds you're taking for the pain will chew right through your stomach." Dean said casually. "Um...there's one outside of Topeka, not too far from here. We can start there and see how sick of it we are when we're done"  
"Works for me." Sam said and forced himself to eat, occasionally rubbing at the back of his neck. "I can get off work early tomorrow and we can take off." He suggested.  
Dean watched his brother carefully. The back of his neck was red...but that could be from him rubbing it all the time, right? And it wasn't like Sam would let him take a look at it anyway. But he ate his wings and drank his beer, flirted and smiled with the waitresses and paid the tab with cash instead of an invalid credit card. "Okay, we'll do that. Let's go, Sasquatch. Past your bedtime"  
"Yeah you're probably right." Sam said as he rubbed his hands together, his fingers were tingling, but he was sure it would pass, he had been having that problem off and on all day. 

Dean got Sam into bed, and waited until he was asleep. Then with a flashlight and a pen to lift his hair, examined the back of his neck. It was fire red. He slowly, gently placed the back of his hand against his brother's neck and pulled it back abruptly. It was burning hot. 

"Dammit, Sam." Dean said as he shook his head. Quillon was going to pay for this. But first he called McKendrick. Sure, it was two in the morning, but the man was campaigning, Sam said he pulled ungodly (what a word) hours at the office.  
"McKendrick here." Allen answered. It was late enough that he didn't need anyone there to answer his phone.  
Dean didn't bother with pleasantries or even introducing himself. "Listen to me, you son of a bitch." He said,  
stepping outside so he wouldn't wake up Sam. "While you and your boyfriend have been sparring over who's the favorite special kid, my brother got pulled in the middle of it. Now he has a freaking infection because of what Quillon did. So he's not coming to work today." It was past midnight, it counted as 'today'.

"This must be Dean." McKendrick said calmly. "Back up and tell me what exactly is wrong with Sam?" He had a feeling he knew what it was but he wanted to be certain before giving Dean instructions. In his current state, Sam could be very dangerous if not treated the right way.

"Well, I'm tickled with happiness that you knew who I was talking about, that you two don't have more people you're treating like ping pong pawns." Dean growled. "His neck is red, and hot. He's in pain. He dropped his fork tonight and tripped over a flat surface. It's the implant in his neck."

"I'll be over there shortly. Is the fever just in the wound or does he have a temperature? Trust me on this, you do not want Sam to be delirious right now."

"Believe me, I know I don't want him to be delirious." Dean said, raking a hand through his hair. "No, just his neck. So far. What am I supposed to do? It's by his freaking brain stem! If it were anywhere else, I could cut it out. But I am not going to risk leaving my brother a vegetable at best."

"Unfortunately I can't pull it out safely with out seeing it either, which complicates matters." Allen stated. "If we take him to a hospital it will get back to Quillon, believe me. Do you have antibiotics?"

"I've got penicillin, which he's been taking. Clindamycin. Which he's been taking. Some Keflex, Bactrim, Rocephin intramuscular." Dean reeled off. He knew, he'd done the inventory just a few hours ago.

"Give him the bactrim for now. I will arrange for a doctor to be out there first thing in the morning. I'm on my way. I want to see this wound for myself. He mentioned it but didn't say that it was a problem other than discomfort "  
"Son of a bitch." Dean said and hung up the phone. He went back into the apartment and slammed the door to make Sam stir, then shook his foot. "Come on, dude, wake up. Gotta give you some Bactrim because a certain overgrown puppy has a big ouchie"  
Sam groaned. "Dean, let me sleep will ya" He muttered "Head hurts" He didnt want to wake up. When he woke up he had to deal with his head, had to deal with hiding how bad it was.

"I never want to hear another lecture out of you next time I get shot and decide to keep going. Come on, get up." Dean said, turning on the lights as he found a bottle of water and tapped out the pills. "Seriously, Sam. You gotta take this. Didn't escape my attention that you've got a nice infection going there."

Sam sat up reluctantly. "Nothing we can do about the neck... gun shot wounds we can deal with." He managed. "I'll be alright."

"Yeah right." Dean said as he handed Sam the pills. "You're bad. So I called in reinforcements. Hated to do it, but Sam, you're not all right. You know that. Dude, there's something up with your hands, you're tripping over your feet, you've got a migraine that won't quit...I'm not stupid."

"There's nothing we can do about it, Dean." He said having to concentrate on holding onto the pills and then getting them where he wanted them, or rather needed them to be. "Just let me sleep, okay..." He said as he eased slowly back down on the pillow. "Wait... what reinforcements?"

"Yeah, your boss is coming." Dean said. "I called him to call you in sick. So you're going to have two people who love to boss you around in the same room. All that's missing now is Dad, I guess." Dean said with chuckle. "Come on, stay awake."

"Dean, I don't have a concussion." Sam said. "It's okay if I sleep." He said, closing his eyes. "Can you get me the flexeril please?" He asked just as the door bell sounded.

"Get up and get it yourself." Dean said as he answered the door. And came face to face with the reason he was in this situation in the first place. If Quillon and McKendrick hadn't decided in a prick waving contest, Sam would have been fine. "He's in his room." He said, opening the door with no further comment.

McKendrick nodded, and headed quickly toward the room where he had heard the sound of furniture crashing.

Sam forced himself out of the bed and across the room to his pants where he had the bottle in his pocket, but wound up knocking the chair over as he stumbled forward.

McKendrick came in time to catch Sam before he did a face plant on the floor, Dean looming in the door way, watching warily. The senator touched the back of Sam's neck and frowned.

"More than a headache." He said with a grimace as he rightened the chair and sat Sam in it. "Okay, I have a doctor coming in a few hours."

"What's he gonna do? Give me a shot?" Sam asked as he eased slowly back into the chair. "There isn't any way to get it out without turning me into a vegetable."

"There might be, but its going to take an incision into your neck and alot of slow and careful manipulation. "

"And it still could wind up with me in a wheel chair if I am lucky... and then Quillon moves in and puts Dean in prison. No"

"The last one Quillon put one of these things in..he ended up a quadriplegic on a vent anyway. It's still in him too. But it became infected. Swelled at the spinal cord, until his spinal nerves finally died." McKendrick said.

"Fine." He said. "But you get my brother out of his reach once it's out of me." Sam insisted. He wasn't going to risk his brother's freedom or his life for his own again.

"Sam, once it's out he has no way of tracking us." Dean said.

"I think we should get it out now." McKendrick said, grabbing a knife that was by Sam's bed. Dean pulled his gun on the senator.

"Put the knife down." Dean said.

"Dean..." Sam said. "Don't shoot him... Allen... give the knife to Dean, he can make the incision." Sam said as he eased his way over to the bed. "And the son of a bitch found us the first time didn't he? I mean it... get him out of here when it's done."

Dean reluctantly lowered the gun and took the knife McKendrick held out to him. "Sam, we've been through this. We're not separating." He said. "Go lie down on the bed, on your front." He said quietly. He could not believe he was going to slice into his brother's neck. "Besides, I wouldn't leave you with him anyway."

McKendrick raised an eyebrow. "I'm not the enemy."

"That's still debatable." Dean said.

"I wouldn't kill Sam. Our end agendas might be different, at this point, but...he's like me. I have a dream, a plan, to gather all the ones like me. And build something."

"Or destroy something." Dean said.

"Can we deal with my neck then Quillon, please?" Sam asked as he got settled onto his stomach. "And could someone knock me out before you do surgery? Not sure I can keep still if you mess with that thing."

Nothing they had would work fast enough. "Sorry, Sam." Dean said as he knelt on the bed and put his brother in a sleeper hold. Named that for a reason. Easing his brother back onto the bed, he held the blade of the knife up to the flame from his lighter and let it cool for a few seconds and nodded to McKendrick. "Here we go." He said and put one hand on the base of his brother's neck, and cut Sam's skin with his other.

McKendrick told Dean to hold the wound as open as he could. He cleaned out the pus that had begun to form, by moving it with his mind. "There it is." He said spotting the tip of the small electronic device. "Tagged like a damned dog... " he growled as he slowly moved the device, pausing periodically to relax and breathe and re-examine the thing's position. It took nearly 15 minutes to work the device gently past Sam's spine and out of his body. "Okay let's get that cleaned out and closed." He said shaking a little.

"I got it from here." Dean said, ever protective and vigilant. He cleaned out the wound, irrigated it with an antibiotic (he'd seen them do that when he was in traction, same principle, right?) and stitched his brother's neck up with careful, tight stitches. Small stitches, so his eyes were burning when he was done. "You two, Quillon and McKendrick, your little war is pulling everyone into it." He took the tracking device and set it on the endtable. He wouldn't destroy it yet, it could still buy them some time.

"I'm not the one asking for this war. I'm not the one sending in assassins with time bombs in their necks." McKendrick said. "I can provide security for you and Sam. He's meant for great things, Dean. Amazing things. Sam is special. Quillon is nothing but spare parts and he knows it. Sam ... Sam is different."

"Sam is my brother. I'll take care of him." Dean said, covering him up with a blanket. "And you have no idea what he's meant for. You're nothing but a pawn for whatever demon you sold your soul to."

"Yeah, you've done such a bang up job of it on your own, haven't you? Not that it's your fault. This isn't something you have ever been prepared for. Quillon tried to kill Sam and I both in one shot. Probably plans to put you in prison after the fact anyway. How do you plan to get out of that on your own?"

"He's not the first person to want me in prison. Or the first fed for that matter." Dean said, grinding his teeth. Because that was like a sucker punch in the gut. His ultimate job, and his ultimate failure. Protect Sam. "But you still know nothing about him"  
"Maybe...but you don't have to, to know that he is meant for more than this. Let me help you... if it makes you feel better, I have a vested interest in finishing this off anyway. Not merely Sam. I'm tired of gifted young men being sent to me to die. Tired of Quillon's machinations. "

"Oh, so you're doing this out of the goodness of your heart." Dean said. "Quite a humanitarian. So when you're in the White House, how soon until you end the world as we know it? Paint yourself as a good guy all you want, you and Quillon, two sides of the same coin. We just know what Quillon's motivations are."

"Right now... does any of that really matter?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. "Right now you have to protect Sam from Quillon, and I want Quillon dealt with not merely because I have a vested interest in your brother, but because he is a pain in my ass. Now can you work with me on this, or do you want me to back off and let you handle this all on your own?"

"I have to go out." Dean said with a moment's pause. "Watch him. Just sit down in that chair and watch him. Don't move him, don't talk to him about his destiny or his purpose or anything like that. No demonic propoganda"  
"Sam and I have an agreement. It's all on his terms. you don't have anything to worry about." Allen said as he took a seat in a chair. He would watch over Sam. He wanted the boy to recover.  
"Good." Dean said as he left the hotel room and drove to the federal building in a rage. He pushed his way in, he knew Quillon wasn't sleeping, and that he would be close. "You son of a bitch. You happy?" He said, throwing Quillon against a table before he was restrained by feds.  
Quillon was on his feet quickly striding over to Dean and punching him dead in the face. "What the hell do you think you are doing?" He demanded. "You had better have one hell of a good reason for doing this or our arrangement might just come to an abrupt end"  
"Good reason?" Dean said, spitting out blood as he shook the men off. "My brother is in an coma. Infection from your little implant." Well, unconscious at least. But Dean could lie with the best of them. And better than them too. "The mark you sent us after, he's a human. Special. But you know all about that, don't you, Quillon? So why is your little bitch fight so important that my brother might not wake up? Or was that part of your plan too"  
"An unfortunate side effect." Quillon said calmly. "I'll see to Sam's medical care. But surely you aren't buying into McKendricks sweetness and light routine, are you? The man is a danger to this country and you know it"  
"Stay away from my brother." Dean said. "You've done enough damage. And I trust him about as much as I trust you. But he's human! I can't do shit to him, I won't. I'm not a killer, no matter what your fucked up files say. I'm not a murderer. You want him so bad, you take him out"  
"You have 12 hours to reconsider that position." Quillon said. "Or you're setting things in motion you don't want. Now get out and see to your brother. Let me know if you change your mind about his medical care. I know a great nursing home"  
"I think you're setting things in motion that you don't want." Dean said. "You want me to cross that line? If I do, you're next on the list. And if I can take out McKendrick, you don't stand a chance. Sleep on that you son of a bitch." Dean said as he slammed back out of the federal building.  
Sam was still sleeping when Dean got back to the apartment. McKendrick still seated in the chair, keeping an eye on him, drinking a cup of coffee. "I take it that didn't go well." He said looking up at dean, and the darkening bruise on his face. 

"Went fine." Dean said as he sat on his brother's bed and watched him. "Quillon wants you dead, he's a thorn in your side, why don't you two act like men and go at it yourselves? Why all this stupid cloak and dagger and misdirection bullshit"  
"You make it sound like I have been egging this on or something, Dean. I said I was willing to help you. I didn't say I wanted him dead." McKendrick pointed out. "And direct frontal attack is going to wind up with someone dead"  
"Someone's going to wind up dead anyway, and right now, I have the fear it is going to be my brother." Dean said, adjusting Sam's blanket a bit. The one person he could not lose was Sam. He'd lost his mother, he'd lost his father...twice. But if he lost Sam, he'd go on a serious rage and probably follow him soon after. And Dean didn't want to die.

"I don't want Sam to die." Allen said. "The doctor will be here soon. If Sam requires medical attention, I will see that he gets it in a private hospital under an assumed name." He offered. "Look... you don't have to trust me, but you have the choice of letting me help you or doing it on your own"  
"Quillon said I have twelve hours, then shit hits the fan. How it can hit more than it already has, I don't know. I'm supposed to kill you. Problem is, you may be tight with the demon, but you're human. So I can't. Because even I have standards and morals." Dean said, getting up and pacing. He was formulating a plan, slowly. Once Sam was out of danger, Sam would go to ground with the others. Deep. Dean...he'd turn himself in. Go to prison to keep his brother safe. Seemed like a fair exchange.

"Then we do what Sam wanted. We get you the hell out of Dodge and we get Sam the medical attention he deserves." McKendrick said. "The doctor will be here soon and we'll see what he needs before we move him"  
"Nice try. No." Dean said. "I'm not going anywhere until I know Sam is safe. And I'm disregarding everything he's said in between when that was injected and when it was taken out. Obviously he had a nice infection brewing, and the pain, he wasn't thinking. I'll figure this out. This is my job, not yours. But thanks for being helpful so far"  
"Really... what's your plan, hot shot?" He challenged. "Tell me what you can do for your brother?" He didn't believe for one minute that Dean could keep Sam safe in his current condition. Or from Quillon. 

"You got any siblings?" Dean asked instead as he left the room briefly to grab a six pack out of the fridge. He took a beer and set the pack on a small table in Sam's room. 

"A sister." He said and took one of the beers. "She's in Europe." Allen kept his family safe. Even if it meant they only talked by email and phone.

"Then you should know. I'll protect this kid, you can count on that." Dean said. To anyone outside, it might look like he was doing a bang up job on it. But he was alive. And he was on the side of good. 

"So what hospital you gonna take him to?" He asked, he knew Dean had limited resources. "Look, it's okay to have help. Doesn't mean you aren't taking care of him"  
"St Luke's." Dean said. And he planned to call some people in. Either Bobby or Ellen. He sighed and shook his head. "But you don't know him. Or me. And don't fool yourself into thinking you do."

"What does that have to do with anything?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. "I know what it's like to go through the whole... discovery process. Figuring out how to control it... maybe I can identify a little with that part of him. That and the stubborness." He added with a grin.  
"Believe me, you have nothing on Sam when it comes to stubborness." Dean said with a chuckle. "I don't care how stubborn you think you are, Sam outdoes you. Easy." He'd come up against that stubborn part of Sam before. Actually, a lot. So he knew.

"Well, let's hope we never have to find out." He said."I'll take care of the medical bills at least. I am sure they are going to want to set him up on IV antibiotics for a couple of days. What did you tell Quillon"  
"That Sam was in a coma and I was mad. And that you're human, and even I have my limits. That's one line I can't cross." Dean said. He'd come close before, with that virus, and those people. But that was different, he told himself. The facility was an unfortunate accident. It wasn't murder, it couldn't be. Because if Dean believed it was, that he was a murderer, he'd be more lost than Sam could ever have a nightmare of being.

He nodded. "We'll keep him under that assumption." It would be easy enough. "St Luke's won't give out information on him, we'll need security at the door just in case"  
"I'll handle security." Dean said. "But after this is over, you might be short an intern. Might want to put the ad in the help wanted papers again."

"So should I cancel the doctor too, since you have this all under control on your own?" He asked in frustration as he rose from his chair. 

Dean looked at him. "Oh, I'm sorry. Was I supposed to just hand my brother over to you, say thanks, I'll write? Do you think I'm that stupid and careless?"

"Not going to make you leave if you don't want to. But damn it, you couldn't hide from him before what makes you think you can do it now ?"

"Stop fighting over me, s'embarassing. Not a girl"  
"We weren't trying to hide as hard as we could have." Dean said defensively and breathed a sigh of relief when Sam spoke up. "Hey." He said with a relieved smile. "Glad to see you're back with us. How do you feel?"

"About the same ... I guess." He said not even bothering to try and push himself up right. "Guess it will take time..."

"You need the swelling to come down before there will be much in the way of change." Allen said. "They will probably put you on IV antibiotics."

"No hospital." Sam said.  
"Fine." Dean said. "Have your doctor friend put an IV in him, and I'll do the antibiotics here." Wouldn't be the first time either.

"This is your spine we are talking about Sam... you need to be where a neurologist can examine you."

"No... they'll find us too easy in a hospital. Find us here too. Gotta... go"  
"We're good here for a few days." Dean assured his brother. "But he's right, no hospital. He's an escaped mental patient remember. Too risky."

"This is insane. you could wind up paralyzed for life if this is botched. Not that your brother isn't a wonderful caregiver but he isn't exactly a doctor."

"They'll find him.. no." Sam said.  
"Sam." Dean said, squatting by the bed so he was eye level with his brother. "Don't make this decision based on me. They won't find me. Or catch me. I'm good. I'm that good. Do you want to go to a hospital?"

"If we were that good, we wouldn't be in this mess." Sam mumbled, and groaned. "Right now I want to go back to sleep and not hurt." He tried to smile.

"Dean... this isn't about what Sam wants. It's about what Sam needs" McKendrick pointed out.  
"Like I said, you don't know anything about my brother." Dean said. "We take him to a hospital, and he's not convinced that we're safe there, he'll get worse. Because he'll try to break out. He's a worrier and big on angst. Let me see if I can handle it here, okay?"

"Fine, we'll try it this way for now, but if he gets worse, or doesn't improve. we'll have to reconsider." McKendrick said firmly. "Or what we've done here won't amount to a hill of beans"  
"My brother will be fine." Dean said as the doctor arrived. He argued with the doctor about where Sam should be, but finally the IV was in, and Dean was left with a fridge full of antibiotics and flushes. 

After the third antibiotic, Dean ordered take out. "Hey, ordered Chinese. Want some?" He asked his brother. Well, at least his color was better.

"Yeah okay. No chopsticks though." Sam said, he was still in pain but at least he knew there was an end in sight. He could deal with anything so long as he knew it would eventually get better.  
"Okay." Dean said as he dished out some Chinese and handed his brother a glass of milk. "How are you feeling?" He was under pressure to take Sam to a hospital, he knew that. 

"Dean, I'll be alright." He said as he held on to the milk with both hands to take a drink. "Just gonna take time for the swelling to go down is all." He didn't want to go anywhere near a hospital. Too easy to be traced. Not that he really thought there was a chance for Dean if they waited for him to get better.  
"And you know what Sam? I'll be all right too. If you need to go to a freaking hospital, I can stay out of sight. It's not hard. We were careless last time, it won't happen again." Dean said. "But if you need to be in a hospital, and you're not going because of me, I swear I'll kill you myself."

"We need to get out of here." Sam said, slowly eating. The stiffness in the muscles was spreading down to his shoulders, but that was normal enough all things considered. "It's too dangerous to stay"  
"Yeah, the last time we went on a road trip when you were sick, I ended up having to go by the call sign of Rubber freaking Duck, remember?" Dean said. "We're fine until you're healed. Really healed, dude. Cause I can't drive and force meds on you at the same time."

A picture frame shattered on the near by wall. "Dean, he isn't going to give up." Sam said. "If you won't move me, then you need to go. We can meet up at the safe house when the dust has settled"  
Dean's jaw clenched. "Fine." Dean said. "Start packing. Because I am, and I repeat for the millionth time, am NOT leaving you. You want to leave, fine. Let's pack."

Sam slowly swung his feet over the edge of the bed, and shifted into position to get up. He moved slowly, attempting to stave off the pain he expected. But it wasn't pain that brought him abruptly back down on the bed, and into a near fetal position. It was the dizziness. World tilting on its axis, vision fading to white dizziness. He groaned, hoping he could hold down the chinese food because retching would seriously hurt right then. 

"Wow. Looks like I win again." Dean said, but not unkindly, as his brow furrowed watching his brother sway then lay back down and curl up. "Look, just give it a couple more days, okay? Because if you think I'm leaving you like this, you're dumb."

"And what if he shows up? Time has almost run out, hasnt it?" He said with a frown, not even trying to sit up again just yet. "I don't know that even Andy could sweet talk your way out of prison"  
"Dude, stop worrying. Especially about me." Dean said. "That's my job, watch out for my pain in the ass little brother. Your job is to stand in absolute awe of me, remember?" Time was almost up. And he was concerned about that. But he didn't want Sam to be. He had enough on his plate. "You just get better by this weekend so we can go check out some freaky shops."

"Someone has to worry about you... you won't. " Sam said as he slowly made his way to a sitting position once more, ignoring the head rush that came with it.  
"I'm fine." Dean said. "But once you're ready to travel, I mean really ready, then we'll go. Sam, you're not there yet"  
Sam sighed. "I know." He admitted reluctantly. Sitting in the passenger seat of the Impala made him hurt even just thinking about it.  
"Get some rest. I'm gonna grab some food." Dean said as he headed out of the apartment and to the corner store. Stocking up on junk food and some actual food. "Sam!" Dean called out as he laid the bags on the kitchen table (they had a kitchen table, imagine that!). "I got some of those fruit snacks you like." No answer. Dean started looking around, surveying his surroundings. Something was off. "Sam?" He said as he went into his brother's room. "Sam!" He yelled. Sam wasn't there. But there was a note where Sam should have been.  
'Finish the job. Or go to jail'  
Dean balled it up and threw it against the wall in frustration, and stormed out of the apartment. Back to the federal building.  
He was met by security at the doors as he came in. "Agent Quillon isn't interested in speaking with you at this time." He was told. "Unless you are turning yourself in"  
"Fuck you." Dean said as he punched the first one hard enough to knock over the second one, and dashed into the elevator, getting off at the second floor, but sending it up to the proper floor anyway. And headed up the stairs until he got to the floor and strolled right into Quillon's office (as everyone else was waiting at the elevator) and shoved him back against the desk. "Where's my brother, prick? You got two seconds"  
Dean was thrown off of Quillon by an invisible force. "Not my problem that you can't keep track of a comatose man. You should be out there taking care of business, Winchester"  
"Shut the hell up." Dean said and sprang back toward Quillon and punched him. He was thrown off again, but at least he got that punch in. He didn't lose Sam. Sam was taken. There was a difference, and he was pretty sick of it too.

Quillon pressed a button on his desk and an alarm sounded in the hall. "Building is being locked down, Winchester. Game and match." He said as slammed the younger man into the wall. "You should have just done what I told you to do. " 

"Haven't you figured it out?" Dean said as he kicked Quillon off him. "I'm the belligerent one. Unpredictable, wildly handsome. And fast." Dean said as he darted out out of the room. He wasn't staying in this building. He'd head to the roof, and hope for another way down. Or a close by building or something.

Quillon was up and after him seconds later, following him up the stairs. He didn't want to kill him, he needed him alive to finish the job and take the fall. That limited what he was able to do to contain the son of a bitch, which only served to make him angrier.  
Dean ran fast and hard. Up stairs. Onto another floor. Up another stairwell. Finally taking an access vent. He made it to the roof, without having to open the door. So no one was notified that he was there. He squeezed out of the vent and caught his breath on the asphalt on top the roof. He looked over the edge. It wasn't obnoxiously high, maybe seven stories. Another building close by, he could make that jump. Sure, if he prayed really really hard and grew wings in the mean time.  
Quillon paused outside the door to the roof to catch his breath. Winchester was going no where now. Once he had regained his composure he opened the door and strode confidently onto the roof. 

"There's nowhere to run, Dean." He said as he closed the door behind him. 

Dean didn't know it, but the building wasn't on lock down anymore. Quillon had cleared it. He didn't want to be seen as the last person to see Dean Winchester alive, so he told his agents that Winchester was back out on the job. Police brutality could come back and bite him in the ass, after all. 

"Well, good. That was tiring." Dean quipped and was punched for that. Hard, sending him staggering. It started a whole brawl, up there on the roof. Loose asphalt flying around them, and soon Dean was seriously hurting. He couldn't get the upper hand, because Quillon would employ his telekinesis and such at inopportune time (inopportune for Dean at any rate.  
He couldn't do it anymore. He was tired, wrung out, he had nothing left to give.  
Well, maybe one thing.  
He was counting on Quillon's lack of control over his freaky powers, lack of control he'd already demonstrated. 

"No wonder you're not the favorite." Dean said with a smirk as he gave all he had one last time. A full break run toward the edge of the roof, flying in the air. The landing was messy, and seriously hurt. He even got road rash from the other roof as he landed and rolled. 

But somehow...he'd made it. An impossible jump. Lifted by a stray breeze from the near wind tunnel the space between the two buildings created.  
Quillon swore, and took off at a run. If Winchester could make it, so could he. Only he didn't. One moment, the momentum was carrying him across the divide, the next it was as though all the energy was sucked out of his flight, and he dropped like a stone seven stories down, landing in a heap on the pavement below.  
Dean saw Quillon heading toward him. And saw him fall.  
And like someone driving by a horrific car accident, he looked. Though he knew he shouldn't have, as his stomach quickly betrayed him and he retched on the roof. Quillon's body was crumbled on the ground, even seven stories up he could see the unnatural angle of it all. He swore he could see the blood pool beneath the man. And he had to sit down and lean against the short retaining wall as he sat in shock. 

Quillon was dead. He hadn't made the jump. He'd tried to get to Dean. Did that make it his fault? Had he just killed a man? No! He hadn't killed him. It was an accident, brought on by Quillon himself. He'd never touched the man. 

And Dean just kept repeating that, until he almost believed it (though it was true). 


	3. Chapter 3

Dean made it back to the apartment. Sam still wasn't there. He sat down heavily in the living room with a beer. He was still in shock after seeing Quillon plunge to his death. Nasty way to die, Dean thought. Seeing the ground rush up at you, knowing that every inch was inch closer to when you'd surely die. He'd even heard of people that survived for a short time, minutes, sometimes hours. Now that had to be pain. Nothing he could even compare to, and he'd been in some serious pain in his life.

So Quillon was dead. His one last lead on where Sam was took the Great Plunge, and was now beyond interrogation. Sam was probably in some mental hospital, some government facility...and Dean didn't even know where to start.

This was all his fault. Like usual. So much for watching out for Sammy. Everytime he turned his back, Sam would slip through his fingers like sand. Sometimes intentional. Other times not. All the time he'd have to go on some desperate search and hope he got there in time.

This last time, outside Washington, he'd barely gotten there in time. Sam was still twitchy, even as he tried to deny it, and tried to hide it. Dean could tell.

He didn't know that he'd be there in time this time.

He picked up the phone and called the senator. "They took my brother." He said, numbly. Numb was a good way to describe it. His father would have gone for shell shocked though. "Quillon is dead and they have my brother."

There was a momentary pause. "We'll find him, Dean." Came the senator's calm and steady reply. "They can't have taken him far in his condition. Might take a couple days, but we will find him."

"Couple days? Do you know what they could do to him in a couple days? And he's completely defenseless." Dean said as he started to pace, getting on his brother's lap top to search out anywhere they could hold him. It was like a needle in a pile of needles though.

"I know... but it takes time to go through all the channels with the hospitals. You did say they were threatening to take him to a mental hospital. If it's an actual hospital, they aren't going to harm him." McKendrick said. "I will put everyone I have on it, but I just can't promise immediate results.."

And what Dean wanted was immediate results. What he needed was immediate results, really. Sam was right, they should have hit the road days ago. This was his fault. "Okay, thanks." Dean said. "Should be easier. Quillon took a swan dive off a building." Dean didn't know how he made the jump and Quillon hadn't.

"Tell me everything that happened." McKendrick said. "What do I need to cover up?" Sam wanted his brother safe, and for now that was something Allen could provide. If Dean cooperated.

"Nothing." Dean said. "I went in there, we got in a fight, I took off toward the roof. He reported that I had already escaped and was long gone. Guess he wanted to kill me without witnesses. He followed me to the roof, nearly kicked my ass. I took off for one of the other buildings. A real Hail Mary jump if you know what I mean. I made it. He didn't. He's dead." And it was as simple as that. "He told his men I was heading toward Wichita."

"Alright... keep your head down for now, they will be looking for you anyway. It's not quite like cutting the head off of a hydra, but they have an agenda so they will still be looking for you, especially if they have Sam. Keep in touch with me, I want to be updated. If you find him before I do... would be nice to know."

"If you get a lead on Sam, come get me." Dean said. "He's going to be freaked, and I've got a good track record of being able to calm him down." He couldn't believe that he let this happen. How did this happen? How had things gotten so screwed up so fast?

"I will, Dean. I promise. Hang in there in the mean time and if you need anything, call me. " He said. "Don't worry about the apartment, or anything like that. You'll need it at least for a little while when we find Sam anyway. "

"Yeah. Will do." Dean said, distracted by everything that was happening as he hung up the phone. Paced the apartment. He shouldn't leave, he had to be near the phone. And he had to stay out of sight. So he went back to the lap top and ran a hacking program Ash had given Sam to look for recent admissions matching Sam's description into local hospitals.

It had been years since Joshua York had set foot in Lawrence, Kansas. He wasn't exactly pleased to be doing so again. He pulled into a gas station and took out his cell phone, dialing Dean's number.

Dean answered on the first ring. "Yeah." He said as he kept typing away. He didn't expect it to be McKendrick, but maybe it was Sam. Or someone who knew where he was. Anything.

"I'm here, so where are you?" Josh asked as he filled the tank of the SUV. The second generation of Nana the sheep dog stuck her head out the window panting at the phone.

Dean gave the address and apartment number, and opened the door, going back to his computer and his search. He hadn't bothered to clean the blood off himself (a majority of it his blood, he hated to admit) and it was hard doing the computer work with one eye swelling. But finding Sam was more important than grabbing an ice pack.

York found the place easily enough and soon he and the dog were walking through the open door. "You two getting suicidal these days?" He asked, regarding the open door then paused looking at theyoung man sitting there battered and bloody. "I think you better report there, soldier."

Dean didn't take his eyes off the screen, but he lifted one hand from the keyboard to pet the dog that came over to him. "Sam was taken. I went to get some food, door was locked, and he was taken. Door locked behind him too." He said. "Followed up on a lead, it didn't go so well."

York shook his head. The boy was as bad as his father about letting himself go when focused on something else. He spotted the worn first aid bag and went to get it. "How much of that blood is yours?" He asked.

"Most of it." Dean said with a shrug. "Told you it didn't go so well. Don't even ask about follow up interrogation. Not going to happen. He's dead." Dean explained what had happened, the whole thing from Quillon's plan to take down McKendrick, the threats, to the final battle with the anticlimatic ending.

"Go wash up." York said firmly. "I need to see how badly you are injured. Not going to do Sam any good if you are too banged up to go in after him. Go on now."

"It's like dealing with Dad again." Dean said with a chuckle as he reluctantly padded off to the bathroom and took a shower. Then he carefully applied steristrips to where his eyebrow was split. It was a lot of minor stuff, then again, after New Orleans, his definition of minor differed from most people's. If he didn't end up in traction, it was minor.

Josh had settled down at the computer to continue Dean's research for him as he waited for the eldest Winchester to return. he looked him over and nodded. "Ribs?" He asked as he opened the bag.

"Ribs are fine as long as I don't take deep breaths, and no one sucker punches me again." He said, leaning over the computer again. "I can't believe this. So are you going to yell at me for losing Sam, again?"

"No." Josh said. "But I am going to wrap those ribs. Come on... you know the drill." That boy had way too much guilt going on where Sam was concerned. Not any way he could have prevented this.

Dean sighed and braced himself on a near by table, not letting out so much as a grunt as his ribs were wrapped. It wasn't painless. He just kept telling himself he'd had worse. And he had. He exhaled once Joshua finished taping. "Okay. So where are we? You were right. Quillon was one messed up bastard."

"Didn't even occur to me that there were people like Sam in the world. I knew there were psychics obviously, but not those connected to a demon. When we were working for Quillon's father, we thought it was a poltergeist. I am starting to think it was Quillon. Sometimes a telekinetic coming into their abilities can mimic a poltergeist."

"True." Dean said, he'd come across the same thing. "I don't know. He threatened to come after Sam if I didn't take care of McKendrick, and sure, Sam, the senator and the squished fed all have these really freaky powers, but they're all still human, you know? Only difference I can see is Quillon was fucked up, still undecided on McKendrick, and Sam is Sam."

"This guy tied in with the people that hurt him before?" York asked, wondering if they were going to have to rescue Sam from another government installation. He didn't relish the thought. But it could be done if necessary. Obviously Dean had managed it before.

"I don't know for sure. I think so." Dean said. "From what I've gathered, he's made a career of manipulating the others like him into his own agenda. What easier way than to get them all in a government facility and then drug them into submission?"

Josh nodded. "Okay... I'll see what I can find out through my channels. In the mean time, you need to eat." He said firmly. He wasn't going to let Dean run himself into the ground if he could avoid it.

"I'm not hungry." Dean said as he took over the computer again, running through searches. It was highly unusual for Dean NOT to be hungry, that was an understatement. But right now he didn't want to waste time. Sam couldn't afford for him to waste time.

"You can eat and type at the same time. Pack up that lap top. We're going for a drive. I'm surprised she hasn't called you yet. Woman is uncanny." Josh said as he reached over and unplugged the computer.

"Who?" Dean asked, distracted. "Hey!" He said as the computer was unplugged and the battery kicked on. "What are you doing? I'm trying to work here."

"Missouri Moseley, who else? And what I am doing is getting you packed up to go over there. You can plug in there or you can tap into her and see what she can come up with. Wear a helmet."

Dean was antsy, but he went. Gave his car a longing look, but he couldn't drive and type at the same time as he settled into Joshua's SUV with the dog settling in the back seat. "Think she'll know something? You think if she did, she'd call. I mean, she called every other time."

"I don't know... but she's a resource. Something we shouldn't over look." She was also the most maternal woman on the planet. Something Dean was going to need. Josh remembered Dean as a child, all too clearly. He remembered the little boy that was willing to take on a shape shifter to save his brother. He didn't think that instinct had lessened over the years.

"Last time I sawMissouri was right before I got out of the hospital. After New Orleans." Dean said, quieting a bit at that memory. And all it encompassed. Their father's resurrection, and all they went through until John died again. "Talked to her when the government was first after Sam..." He looked out the car window. "It never ends. I can't keep him safe."

"You do realize that Samuel is a man now right?" Josh asked in a gentle tone. "I know it was always your job to keep him safe when you were children but Dean... there is no way you can protect him from everything now. What's important is that he is still alive, and that isbecause of you."

"I don't care how old he is. He's my kid brother. It's my responsibility to protect that kid." Dean said, shaking his head. "And every time I turn around, I'm failing. Dad should have picked someone else."

"Picked someone else? Dean, he groomed you for that job from 4 years on." Josh said. "Anyone else might have screwed the pooch and Sam wouldn't be alive now. You need to lighten up on yourself. You didn't fail. You are one man against Homeland Security. Think about it."

"Didn't fail? Is Sam here? No. He's not. He's recovering from impromtu neurosurgery somewhere where I can't find him. And let's not start on why he needed the surgery in the first place. Oh, we can go all the way back to New Orleans." Dean said, shaking his head. "Dammit, Joshua, I failed. There's no sugar coating it. I let him down, I let Dad down andI let myself down."

"Get over it." Josh said, utilizing a different tactic. "It's a luxury you can't afford. You are feeling sorry for yourself. You did everything you could and it wasn't enough. Doubt anyone out there could have done any better than you did but okay... you're right... Sam isn't here. Suck it up, Soldier. Cry in your beer when it's over and done."

Surprisingly, that did it. Dean straightened up a bit in the seat and set his jaw. Nodding. "Yes sir." He said as they pulled into Missouri's driveway. She was already coming out the door as she heard the SUV pull in.

"Joshua York, what were you thinking?"Missouri demanded. "Dean, I can excuse. He's been a little preoccupied. But you, you know better than to come into town without calling me. Letting me sense it on a vision in the middle of a reading."

"Sorry about that, Missouri." He said, although his tone was anything but contrite. "Needed to get to Dean first." Josh told her. " Been in town a little more than an hour."

"You're not in the Corp. Not in my house."Missouri said, smacking him upside the head as he passed by. As Dean passed by, he automatically ducked his head and guarded his neck. "Oh sugar, I am sorry about Sam." She said, instead of hitting him.

"Yeah. I know. Me too." Dean said as he went into the house.

Josh gave her a long suffering look at the strike to his head but didn't say anything. Truth be told, he found her amusing, in an indulgent sort of way. Not that he would dare tell her that. He figured she would take it as an insult and it wasn't what he meant at all.

Dean made his way into the house asMissouri closed the door behind him. "So, uh..." Dean said, "do you have anything on Sam? Anything?" He hoped she did. Because he didn't. And it was killing him.

She sighed, and rested a hand on his shoulder. "He's out there, baby. I can feel that, but I'm not getting a location. I think it's because he is confused." She hated to tell him that. She knew what he was going through inside, and he didn't need any more put upon him. "I'm not picking up that he is in pain or afraid... just confused. Probably drugged."

Dean sighed and sat in one of the chairs in the hallway, running his hands over his face. "Great." He said. "Drugged." Again. "Okay, he's alive, we'll go on that." He said as he plugged in the lap top.

"I'll get you something to eat. "Missouri said, heading toward the kitchen. She knew there was no point in trying to pry him away from the computer. It was the only way he had to try and find his brother right then, and nothing would slow the man down on that quest.

S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S

The nurse checked on the dark haired man lying on the bed. He was sedated, heavily so, and restraints weren't needed. IV antibiotics, along with fluids and more sedatives, dripped through the IV in his hand at a controlled rate.

He didn't want Sam Winchester hurt. Or even terrorized. So he wasn't.

The nurse picked up the phone and called her contact for her hourly report. "He's still sleeping. Temperature is down, the wound looks clean." The wound on the back of his neck where the tracking device had been removed before they could get to him. "Vitals are stable."

The man on the other end of the line smiled. "Good. Keep me posted, we'll be moving himin a day or twoas he seems stable now." Things were working beautifully. He was pleased.

"Yes sir." The nurse said as she hung up to go recheck her patient. Adjusting the drips. She looked down at the young man in the bed and shook her head. If she wasn't being paid so well, she'd feel badly for this young man. But that was a luxury she could not afford with the money she was earning for this. It wasn't like he was being hurt, he was kept as comfortable as any other patient she'd ever worked with. But she'd never had a patient that was as wanted as this one.

S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/

Joshua looked over at Missouri. "Good coffee." He said taking a seat at the kitchen table, stealing a glance through the door at the living room where Dean sat at the computer.

"Better than that mess hall sludge you try to pass off."Missouri said as she poured herself a cup. She shook her head, glancing at Dean also. "That poor boy. Joshua, you have no idea what those boys have been through the last year or so. Second hand stories...third hand stories. Doesn't quite measure up. You heard how their father came back?"

Josh nodded. "Yeah, leave it to John Winchester to crawl his way out of hell." He said with a smile then sighed. "I heard that he died exorcising the boys. Both of them at once. Damned fool." He said the last with more sadness than accusation. "Should have rested before going on to the second one."

"There wasn't time."Missouri said. She'd been there. "If the demon left Dean voluntarily, he would have had to watch Dean die. Bad enough that boy was broken at the end of it. But the doctors fixed him up. John...he knew something. He couldn't risk losing Dean."

"John knew a lot of things about both of those boys that he didn't bother to tell anyone else. There was something about Mary too... He would never say what it was but I remember he went on a bender for almost a week when he found out what ever it was."

"That was John's way of handling truth when he found it."Missouri agreed as Dean typed away, half heartedly eating the sandwichMissouri had put next to him. "I don't agree with much of how he raised those boys, but they're good men. They didn't ask for this, but they'll handle it."

"I suppose that depends on how long it takes us to find Sam." Josh said. "Dean is gonna lose it before too long." He was worried about him. Almost more worried about Dean than Sam.

"They are co dependent to nearly a disturbing degree."Missouri said. "But we'll find Sam. Because something...I can't put my finger on it...it doesn't feel...right. Sam's not going to be hurt or killed, and he will be found."

"Must be nice to be psychic at moments like this. Unfortunately Dean isn't psychic and he is going to sit at that computer until he finds a clue or passes out."

"I'd rather he sit at the computer until he passes out than go out hunting."Missouri said. "But I spiked his coffee. Same way I did his daddy's. He'll pass out soon enough, he needs his rest."

Josh chuckled. "I knew there was a reason I liked you. How long before I have to carry him to bed?" Sleep was exactly what Dean Winchester needed.

Missouri winced as she heard Dean's head hit the laptop. "About now. Just remember, he's a grown man, and you're not so young anymore." She said in reference to Dean being carried.

"That's an understatement." Joshua said as he got to his feet. He was old enough to have been a mentor to John, and he felt every year of it keenly. He was careful as he hefted Dean, one arm around his waist the other holding Dean's arm over his shoulders. It was more of a half carry, half drag as he got him into the bedroom, and removed his shoes before tucking him in and turning out the light.

Missouri wrapped Dean's sandwich, for when he woke up, and made Joshua one and handed it to him as he came back into the room. "When I was growing up, being psychic was extraordinary, but it wasn't strange. We called it the gift. Or the sight. Everyone in my mother's line had it, including me. So I was prepared for when I started receiving my messages. These babies, like Sam, they're not. There's a world full of confused psychics of varying degrees. Even without that demon's interference, they've all got the potential to be dangerous. Even Sam."

"Everyone has the potential to be dangerous." Joshua pointed out. "Every human being has the potential to surpass any demon out there in their evil. It's all about choices and the condition of a man's soul."

"Yes, yes."Missouri said, waving off that comment. "But these kids, they won't even mean to be dangerous. It's all a mess." She sighed and took out a map, spreading it out on the table as she brought the lap top over and started x'ing out locations that Dean had already considered, and rejected.

"What if it isn't a government installation ora federal hospital? What if it's private?" Josh asked, looking over the locations.

"Then he'll be even harder to find."Missouri said as she handed Joshua his sandwich again. Dean wasn't the only one who would forget to eat in a time like this. "He could be anywhere."

Josh looked at the sandwich and took a bite of it. "I know. But if he was trying to use Sam in some personal agenda or makesure that Dean didn't find him, that would be the most logical route to go. Especially since they rescued him from a military installation once already."

"Well, he made a mistake. Because when it comes to his brother, that boy is a juggernaut. He's not going to stop until he finds Sam." Missouri said and rubbed her eyes. "I'm going to meditate. See what I see."

Joshua nodded. "I'm going to try and rest. Long drive from Wyoming." He said. "Come on Nana, let's hit the sack."

S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/

The man kissed his wife good bye. He hadn't told her what happened last week, when he was at the doctor's. Or what had happened last night when he had gotten a phone call. Telemarketer, he had said.

But he drove his car to the location, and parked it, leaving the keys in it as he got into the moving van. Modified, air conditioned inside, with places to strap down a stretcher and seats for the nurse that would be with them on part of the journey.

"I'm on my way." He said into the phone when it range, with a note of resignation and finality.

S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/

Deans cell phone began to ring. It went to voicemail, then started to ring again, continuing this routine until Dean answered. "Winchester, this is McKendrick. I have a lead."

Dean woke fully up at that. Fully aware he'd been drugged, and he was pissed at that. "Where? Where's the lead?" He said, shoving his feet into the boots as he left the room to the kitchen for some coffee. Fresh coffee that wasn't drugged. He tossed a glare atMissouri as he found the coffee and made a fresh pot.

"I've gotten word that there is a patient matching Sam's description being transported into Topeka. They alerted the highway patrol, procedure since he is being taken to a hospital for the criminally insane. I don't know for certain that its Sam... but it's a lead. What do you need done?"

"I need to know the highway." Dean said. "I'll cut him off myself. If it's not Sam, well, I'm good at quick getaways, especially in a car. If it is Sam...I might be the only one that can calm him down." Of that he was sure.

"Fine bring him back here to my place. I can cover you until it blows over." McKendrick said "I'll have the doctor here to check him out, and run blood work to find out what they have been giving him... so we know what to expect. "

"Fine." Dean said and wrote down the highway that McKendrick provided and hung up. "Okay, think I know where he is. Joshua,we gotta go. Now. And I hopeyour SUV is ready for some highway acrobatics."

"Fine. Where are we going and what do you know?" Joshua asked as he got up and grabbed his keys. He wasn't going to allow Dean to go anywhere alone. The probability of a trap was just too high.

"I know that the highway patrol's been alerted because they're transporting someone matching Sam's description to an institution for the criminally insane. Also know they're not in an ambulance ora prison shuttle." Dean said as he waved good bye to Missouri. There wasn't time. "They're getting on I-70."Topeka wasn't far from Lawrence. Time was of the essence.

Within 10 minutes they were racing down the free way. "Any idea what we are looking for? Not an ambulance leaves alot to choose from."

Dean thought then pointed. "There! Cut that one off." He said. "How many non descript, unlabeled moving vans are equipped with air conditioning and climate control?" He said, spotting the apparatus on the undercarriage.

Josh pulled forward and then in front of it sharply, forcing it off of the road. "Okay, let's do this quick, they're gonna be radioing the cops soon."

Dean had the door open before the cars even stopped, and pulled his pistol. "Hands where I can see them!" He yelled to the driver. The driver put two fingers to his mouth and put his hands up. Then slumped over. Dean checked on the driver...who was dead. "Fuck!" He yelled and went to the back.

The nurse had already been dropped off at another location, shortly before they got on the highway. Leaving a sedated Sam on a stretcher. Not restrained, really, just the belts over him that they used in ambulances and such.

"Sam? Sammy." Dean said, opening the back and seeing his brother. "Joshua, he's out! Gonna need some help." To do it quickly, anyway.

Josh hurried to the back and climbed into the van. He took down the IV and lay it over Sam's stomach, figuring it was better to do that later when they had time. and grabbed Sam by the arms and hefted him from the gurney, while Dean took the legs. "Stay in the back seat with him." He said as the settled Sammy into the back.

He then got into the front seat. "Okay, ole girl, let's show him how it's done." He said to the car as he revved the engine once before pulling out onto the highway.

"Show off." Dean said. Already a weight was lifted. Not completely. But lifted a bit as he sat in the back, Sam draped across him. Sam was so freakishly tall, his legs were bent up against the opposite door, but Dean was holding onto his brother as Joshua drove. "Okay, here's an address to go to. I don't trust the guy, but he'll cover for us for a bit."

Josh drove, managing to get out of the scene and out of sight before the state police arrived. He took side roads to the Senator's mansion, and was surprised when the gates opened for them and he was directed to a parking space behind the house, out of sight.

McKendrick was coming out a side entrance as the SUV stopped and opening up the back door. "Okay, let's get him out. I've got a doctor ready to check him over." He said as Dean scooted to Sam's feet.

"Joshua, Allen. Allen, Joshua." Dean said as he hefted Sam's legs up once more to get him out of the SUV.

Joshua moved in once more to take his shoulders. He nodded to the senator. "Lead on. We need to get this crap out of him."

McKendrick led them to a back guestroom, where the doctor was waiting. As soon as Sam was lying on the bed, he unhooked the IV bag and hooked up one of saline mixed with vitamins, colloquially called a 'banana bag' for its bright yellow color.

"This will help with the meals he's missed. And flush out his system." The doctor said as he checked the wound. "It looks good. They've been taking care of it, at least."

Dean sat down in a chair. "Well, that's one thing, right?" He said with a tired smile.

"Not a mark on him... he hasn't been hurt." Josh pointed out. "Not even any signs of struggle, doesn't look like he has even been restrained. I think he's slept through it all."

"Thank god." Dean said with a sigh of relief. "The driver, he offed himself. Poison or something. No ID on him. No registration in the truck. Bet the plates are stolen or fabricated. But at least he's okay."

"Sounds like they were afraid of getting caught." McKendrick said. "Quillon's death must have spooked them. Probably why they were moving him so soon. No sign of where he had been kept either, I take it?"

"Nope." Dean said as he pulled the chair closer to the bed when the doctor finished. "Once Sam wakes up, we're hitting the road. So, you know, thanks and...stuff." He thought. He wasn't sure on McKendrick. But Dean's trust in others wasn't very high to start with.

McKendrick sighed. "Are you sure that's wise?" He asked. "They are going to be looking for you... at least give a little time for them to fixate on someone new for their agenda."

"Everytime we stay in one place, or return somewhere familiar, Sam gets captured." Dean said shaking his head. "Forget it. We've all got jobs, he's mine."

"That's because you have a pattern, Dean. You go from cheap motel to cheap motel along back roads. It makes you hard for cops to find, easy for profilers and that's what they use."

"Thanks for that." Dean said. "I'll beat them at their own game. Or Sam will, he's the smart one." He just wished his brother would wake up. Though, with the amount of fluids they were pumping into him, Dean was sure he wouldn't get so much as a 'hi' when Sam woke up. It would be a mad dash to the toilet. "Where's the nearest bathroom?" He asked, thinking about that.

"It's just across the hall." Allen said with a smile. "At least stay long enough to get him back on his feet." He asked and started toward the door. "Neither of you have to do this alone." He went out. "I'll send up lunch." He added as he closed the door behind him.

"So that's the politician we were supposed to X out." Dean said tiredly to Joshua as he watched his brother. "Apparently he and Quillon have been in a prick waving contest for years. Leave it to us to get caught in the middle of that."

Josh frowned. "He comes off all squeaky clean." He said. "But I got a bad feeling... speaking of feelings... you better call Missouri or she will thump you long distance.."

"Good. You don't trust him either. Thought I was just paranoid. But two paranoids means there'sa chance we're right, and not just paranoid." He said as he took out his cell. "Yeah, she probably would too." He said as he dialed Missouri's number. "Missouri, we've got him. He's sleeping it off right now."

"Good. I knew he would come back to us in one piece, poor baby. You take care of him and bring him by here before you leave town. I think I might have something to help you out with that quest of yours."

"Sam's quest." Dean said. Dean was just going along with it because it kept him occupied. But come on. An angelic sword once wielded by Attila in a curiosity shop in the Dust Bowl? Clearly a drug induced hallucination. But he went along with it. "But we will. Waiting for him to wake up right now."

"Alright, baby. Be careful."She said as she hung up.

It took several hours for the drugs to finally start to work their way out of Sam's system. He moaned softly, stirring in the bed.

"Hey." Dean said, going over to the bed. "Finally waking up, huh princess?" But it was a good sign to Dean.

"Dean?" Sam asked, his eyes darting around the room, not recognizing his surroundings, taking in the unnatural looking yellow tint of the IV bag. "Are you alright?" He managed to get out, he was still groggy, and wasn't sure he could stay awake for more than a moment or two.

"I'm good." Dean said. "They got an IV on you, the one usually given to drunks. And here you thought I'd be the first one to get one of them." He said with a grin. Sam was still woozy and foggy, but he was awake. That made Dean a happy camper.

"What? Why? Where are we?" He asked struggling to sit up, but he had no motor control yet and fell back against the pillows.

"Easy there, kiddo." Joshua said and frowned when the windows started to rattle for no obvious reason.

"Dean..." Sam started to repeat. "Where..."

"We're at McKendrick's place right now." Dean said. "You got taken again, I don't know by who. Think it was by Quillon, but he did a swan dive off the roof, so we'll probably never know for sure. You remember Jacob, right? He got old. But just rest up. When everything's out of your system, we'll talk more, okay?"

The windows rattled even more violently, the glass seemed to bow outward a little more each time. "Taken?" He muttered, fighting to keep his eyes open. "We're at Allen's?" He asked, and groaned, running a hand over his face.

"Dude, takea deep breath." Dean said, noticing the windows and squeezing his brother's forearm for emphasis. "Yeah, we're at Allen's. Saved your butt again. Don't worry about it, you can pay me back in beer and tequila."

Sam lay back against the pillows once more. "Not... not captured now though... right? You're okay?" He asked again, having a hard time with short term memory. Of course when you aren't completely conscious its not hard to lose track of what people have said to you.

"Yeah, dude, I'm fine. Not captured. Neither are you." Dean assured him. "Just get some rest so we can get out of here. The guy doesn't even drink real beer, must be afraid that the voters might find out and all."

Sam relaxed and let his eyes close, no longer fighting to keep them open. He began to breath deeply and steadily once more.

"Was that Sam...doing the thing with the windows?" Joshua asked with a frown.

Dean covered his brother up and laid his hand against Sam's forehead. "Good, no fever." He said and looked at Josh. "Uh, yeah. That was him. Told you he was...special. And not 'riding the short bus to school' special, either."

"Well good to know your definition of special has changed where Sam is concerned." He said with a faint laugh. He remembered when the boys were old enough to start arguing. Or more to the point, old enough that Dean was relegated to brother status, not surrogate father any longer.

"Yeah well, eventually I started to grow up I guess." Dean said with a chuckle. "Had to happen eventually, right?"

"Jury is still out on that one." Joshua said bluntly. "But for now, it seems to be leaning in your favor." Grown up? Not in a million years. Not with the last name Winchester. More mature than a 16 year old? Hecould concede that much.

Dean laughed. "I said 'started to grow up,' not grownup in all actuality." He clarified. Though in some ways, he had been more grown up than John by the time Dean was eight years old. "Okay, guess we should finish lunch now." He was starting to get his appetite back, that was a good sign.

Josh laughed. "You're a Winchester. You'll never completely grow up." He could remember when John was young, before the demon took his wife. John had been a good marine and a responsible husband and father, but grown up? Never. There had been an odd sense of humor about the man, a need to laugh and make others laugh. It had hurt to see that die with Mary and the realization that the world wasn't a happy place.

"Yeah, well, that would be boring." Dean said with a chuckle as he finished his sandwich. "When we're outta here, I gotta talk to you about what Sam wants to look for next." But he wouldn't do it here.

Joshua nodded and looked up as the food was brought in. He didn't say anything about Sam having wakened. Didn't see any need for the senator to know every detail about what went on in the room. He didn't trust the man. Politicians... worse than Demons almost every day of the week.

"You should have seen Dad when he came back." Dean said. A safe subject. "He was a different person, but still Dad, you know? Wonder what life would have been like if that was the version of him that raised us sometimes. He was...relaxed."

"Your dad... was a good man. But he had a wicked sense of humor, and a dirty mind that kept your mother blushing most of the time." He said with a smile. "I don't know what sort of men you would have become, or what your relationships would have been, but I can guarantee there would have been a lot of laughter. "

"Somedays I'd trade the laughter for everything else we've been through." Dean said, the 'we' in the statement meaning more Sammy than him. "Just seems too unreal that this all happens to actual people and not something Stephen King thought up."

"I wish you could have known the man I knew in the beginning." Joshua said. "He loved your mother... I know you know that but it's not the same. He used to look at her and the feeling between them was almost physically tangeable." He said. "It was electric... not often you find a love like that. "

"I don't remember much about my parents as a combined entity." Dean said. It was understandable. He was so young when his mother was taken. "Did I ever tell you what happened after the exorcism, in New Orleans? Mom was there. She came for him."

"I'm glad... being apart from her... it wasn't just that she died... or even how she died... it as as though she took everything but the shell of John Winchester with her. The man you knew as your father... was only John Winchester in name only. Well ... that and the bull headed streak."

"And he did have one hell of a bull headed streak. Crawled out of hell after all." Dean said with a chuckle. Only his father would be stubborn enough to do that. He wasn't even sure Joshua would have tried it if he were in his position.

"Yeah, I have a feeling he knew he had to get back to you two." Joshua said. "He didn't tell me everything he knew. There were some things that he kept close to his chest and never shared... but he knew things... things about the two of you and Mary..."

"Mom?" Dean said, putting his food down as he looked at Joshua in surprise. "There was something about Mom?" He couldn't imagine what it would be. His mother was angelic in his mind, made even more so in New Orleans.

"Don't know what it was but... if she came to get him, it obviously couldn't be anything about her that was... wrong... probably just some detail that attracted the demon perhaps."

"Maybe." Dean said. And dropped the subject in his mind. With everything else completely screwed up in his life, his mother was a symbol of all that was pure, and light and golden. For his own sanity, he couldn't afford doubts on that matter. "When Sam wakes up, we'll probably move."

"I don't blame you." Joshua said. "When we get out of here, you can tell me where. Don't know when he's gonna wake up though. He's pretty out of it."

"So what do you know about fallen angels and non fallen angels?" Dean asked. If that conversation was overheard, it wouldn't matter. It was common knowledge by those who made it a point to know that Sam and Dean not only had a fallen angel chasing them buthad beenpossessed by two at one point.

"Not as much as I probably should, given our line of work." He said. "I know there was a war in heaven and a third of the angels were kicked out for insubordination and that's where the first generation demons come from."

"Yeah, I got that part." Dean said. "Wish they'd get a new hobby other than screwing with humans. Really, if we're God's favorite creations, hate to see what happens to the ones He doesn't particularly care for."

"They probably don't exist anymore, and that's the whole reason we're on the demonic shit list. Angels don't really have a choice. They don't get to crawl on their knees and make up with the boss. We do."

"Yeah, guess you're right." Dean said. "Sure am sick of being used asa punching bag though." He mused. "Guess it'll all turn out all right. Gonna have to. Because if I have to crawl out of hell, I'm gonna make plenty of demons sorry."

"Well let's see if we can't keep you out of hell for a few years longer, shall we? Not sure the rest of us here could contain Sam if you went any time soon."

"You're right." Dean said. "God I wish this day would just end. But then again, tomorrow might be even worse, so I shouldn't think like that. I just need Sam to have one coherent moment, and then I can sleep without Missouri drugging me again. That was a cheap trick you know."

"Yeah well if she hadn't you would have collapsed in a few hours anyway. Just as well that she did. Needed you rested to go after him."

"I can stay awake longer than that." Dean said with a scowl as he watched his brother sleep.

It took a couple of days, but Sam finally came around and got his strength back. Dean was itching to get out of there, and McKendrick could tell.

"I've arranged for a political speech today in downtown." McKendrick said. "That will draw all the troopers, marshals and cops for security. You should be okay." He said.

"Thank you." Sam said. "I appreciate everything you've done." He told the senator. This had definitely turned out differently than he had expected. In some ways it gave him hope. After all, McKendrick was doing good deeds. Sure Dean pointed out it was for political brownie points... but what if it wasn't?

"Thanks." Dean said as he picked up the bags.

"If you need anything, don't hesitate to call." Allen said. "I mean it. You two are trouble magnets."

Dean laughed. "Yeah, well, it's part of the charm. We're also chick magnets too."

"Well, Dean is. I just attract trouble... and mad scientists apparently." Sam said, blushing slightly. He sighed as Dean grabbed the bag he had been reaching for. "I'm fine, you know."

"Yeah, yeah, shut up and get in the car." Dean said, Joshua was meeting them at a rest stop where he'd finally be told about the latest adventure they were embarking on. Because that damn sword thing just wouldn't rest. Sam spent enough time mumbling about it in his sleep.

"Jerk." Sam said with a laugh as he did exactly that. He was ready to shake the dust of Kansas off his feet. Every time he came here it was trouble... serious trouble.

Dean laughed as he pulled out of the estate. "Okay, well, at least that adventure is done. Should we check out some curiosity shops or find an ugly ass demon to kill?"

"Let's check out a couple of shops while we research an ugly ass demon to kill." Sam suggested. "I'm sure Uncle Josh has a few in mind. That's why we're going to meet him, right?"

"Well, that and to tell him about your visions you've been having. Didn't want to discuss them in that house. I know you like the guy, but still. I'm not convinced on which side he's working for." Dean said as he drove. "I just want to find the damn sword so you stop keeping me up at night as you ramble on about it in your sleep. And dude, you talk pretty loud." He had to turn the radio up in the senator's guest room so Sam wouldn't be over heard. Because Dean was that paranoid.

"Do you think we should let him in on it?" Sam asked. "You dont think he is going to think I'm... well... evil or nuts or something?"

Dean stared out at the highway as he drove. "Well, actually, he kinda knows." Dean said. "I told him. Had to. You know him, he doesn't take half answers to anything." And waited for the explosion. He just hoped Sam didn't take it out on his car. He'd hate to have to beat the shit out of the younger man when he was still recuperating.

"What? How much did you tell him?" Sam demanded. "You didn't tell him about the others, did you? About the order? Dean, we swore not to tell ANY one." He couldn't believe his brother had already broken that oath.

"I told him about you. That was it. Had to, Sam, you were shaking the windows. And he knows Quillon was one too." Dean said. "I didn't break the oath, but what was I supposed to do?"

He sighed. "I don't know... I haven't seen him in years, I don't know how much I can trust him. He was Dad's friend, not ours... I want to think we can trust him, but the other hunters... they aren't going to understand."

"Which is why no one's telling the other hunters." Dean said. "Besides, he's kinda tight with Missouri, and if you think she doesn't know, you've got another thing coming. And no, I didn't tell her if that's your next question. Didn't have a chance, she drugged me almost as soon as I got there." Because he was that exhausted and that stubborn.

Sam laughed. "Nice. You must have been pretty messed up for her to drug you into unconsciousness. Although she said she did the same thing to Dad, so don't feel so bad. "

"Don't feel bad? Dude, I was drugged. Then I was tucked in." Dean said. "Eventually they'll see us as adults. Okay, here's the rest stop where we're supposed to meet him." Dean said pulling in and parking the car, getting out for a needed stretch.

Sam got out as well. "Yeah well... I've done it to you too... so ... you'll live, you always have in the past." He said as he stretched and sighed as his neck popped and it didn't send him to his knees in pain. "Although I didn't tuck you in... and I wasn't ... exactly me at the time..well.. .I was me but... not... never mind."

"Sometimes my head hurts listening to you." Dean said with a chuckle. He saw Joshua's SUV come rolling in. "There he is." And looked at his watch. "On the dot. Like usual."

"Well my head doesn't hurt." Sam said with a grin. "Thank god. My self control was wearing pretty thin." He looked over at the SUV. "Oh wow... he still has a sheep dog. I wouldn't have expected that."

"Yeah apparently Nana got out one night...and...you get the rest." Dean said with a laugh as he waved to Joshua. "Sam's feeling a lot better. Even starting to use those college words again."

Sam laughed. "Sorry, I will try to keep it down to 5 letters or less so you can keep up." He teased in return. "Well I understand you have seen a lot more of me lately than I have seen of you. Thanks."

"Any time... don't do it again." Josh said with a grin.

Dean chuckled and slugged his brother in the shoulder for the five letters or less comment as he pulled out a map. "Okay, so Sam's having visions of a sword. Way whacked out, and keeping me up at night. Here's what we've got so far, curiosity shops in the area. We're gonna hit the one outside Topeka."

"So in the interest of getting a good night's sleep, you are going to hunt for a sword that may or may not exist, or may or may not be tied to the yellow eyed demon..." Joshua nodded. "Alright. Well... I can keep an eye out for curiosity shops and swords. Any particulars about it?"

"It's supposed to be the sword of Ares... you know the sword Attila the Hun carried." Sam pointed out.

"So it's mythical... and if it isn't, it was used to wage war... nice... you two sure this is a good idea?"

"Well, it was either this or build up Sammy's porn collection." Dean said, straight faced. "And he's still embarassed we know about his love for porn, so in the interest of not having my eyebrows shaved while I'm sleeping, yeah this is a good idea."

"Dude, I so don't have a porn collection. And you were the one with the habit of removing hair when people sleep." Sam pointed out.

"Someone has to remove your hair from time to time." Dean said with a chuckle. "So that's where we're at." He said to Joshua. "Maybe you can figure out exactly what Sam's supposed to do with this mythical mystical sword of war. Other than lop his toes off. And mine."

"Oh I figure it has something to do with fighting a war." York said. "At least that's the most obvious answer. Mystical creatures sometimes need mystical weapons to defeat them."

"Great." Dean said with a chuckle. "Good to know our lives are so nice and simple and uncomplicated. Okay, so we'll head this way and cover the ones over here. Let us know if you hear of anything on your end."

"Will do." Josh said looking at John's Boys. "You know...everything in life is simple. Like computers... everything breaks down into if A, then B. Zeroes and Ones. Keep it simple, because contrary to popular belief, most everything else follows that pattern too. " Josh said as he headed toward his truck. "And buff the rust out of the back bumper. You're spilling too much salt on her."

Dean had to go check the bumper. "It's not rust, it's dirt!" He said defensively as he brushed it off.

"Then wash it!" Joshua called out. Dean shook his head as Josh got back into his vehicle.

"Ever notice how all of Dad's friends think we're twelve still?" Dean said to Sam with a chuckle as he brushed the dirt off the bumper.

"Could be because you act twelve." Sam suggested doing his best not to smirk as he did so.

Dean playfully punched him in the shoulder. "That makes you eight, egghead." Dean said. "Come on, let's see what we can find on the wide open road. Oh, here." Dean said, handing him a cell phone. "Brand spanking new. Totally clean too."

"I didn't say you WERE 12, just that you acted it." Sam said with a grin. "Thanks." He said about the cell phone. "So where to first?"

"I don't know, Topeka?" Dean said. "That's where we were going to go anyway, right? Pick up a lap top for you on the way, all that nerdy stuff."

"Gotta do something with my hard earned paycheck." Sam said with a laugh. "You know I think it's completely ironic that we spent less time in the apartment than we do in most hotel rooms." He got into the car, and settled comfortably into the passenger's seat.

"Yeah, that was weird, wasn't it? I never even got to hook up with one of the cute girls either." Dean said mournfully. "And I also think it's strange he paid you for being all sick and crap in his back room. No, not weird. Completely twisted. Not complaining, the money is nice, but man, that's weird."

"We have... things in common." Sam said. "He was just... I don't know... responding to that I guess. I feel a little less like a freak though. I mean... he's as normal as you can be under the circumstances. Living a life society considers normal... whether it is under the surface isn't always the point, ya know."

"Well, still not sure if it's less lucrative than selling you to the circus, but it'll do." Dean said lightly. "Ironic. When you think about it, anyway. His life is completely on the up and up on paper. Could be all twisted behind closed doors for all we know. Us? On paper we're completely screwed up. But you know what? I think underneath it all, we're kinda normal."

"Normal? Dean... name one normal thing about our lives." Sam gave Dean an incredulous look. "Cause I don't see it." On paper they were wanted felons, with a fixation on graveyard hijinks, and homicide. Underneath it all... they were basically good people, but they still did most of the things they were accused of, just not the homicide. Monsters didn't count.

"Okay. Normal." Dean said as he pulled back onto the highway and got off the next exit. "We like going out and having fun. We like The Simpsons." He named off a few more of their more normal attributes. "And when push comes to shove, I know you've got my back and you know I've got yours. Because that's what family does. Nice, normal families."

Sam laughed. "Yeah I suppose, but there are men on death row that could say the same thing." Sam said then shook his head. "Then again... you almost wound up there because of all this ... again."

"I'd do it again, Sam." Dean said as he drove. "So any more visions or dreams on this sword? You've been mumbling a lot in your sleep, you know."

"Yeah, more of the same though... a lot of post apocalyptic stuff too... sometimes I think I am just tapping into some second rate movie writer." Sam said with a sigh.

"Always knew you were a geek." Dean said as he opened a bag of M&Ms and held it between his knee as he drove. "Anything helpful in those dreams? I mean, we're not post apocalyptic yet. Well, maybe parts of New Orleans, but I kinda don't want to go back there."

"Neither do I... this was Seattle. I recognized the space needle." He said. "It was bad... not zombie movie apocalypse either. I don't think it's demonic in origin... at least not the state humanity is in... but who knows..." He sighed. "I don't think there is anything helpful there other than a warning."

"Oh nice. Gotta love those warnings." Dean said. "Wish they came with instruction manuals or something too though. Subtitles maybe."

Sam laughed. "Nice, dreams with subtitles... voice over... Yeah that would be helpful but it would also be creepy as hell. " Sam adapted a soothing voice over worthy of a disney nature flick. "The space needle, once an icon of space age architecture, stands empty now. Grafitti covers the once pristine surface..." he shook his head. "I could do without it."

"Dude, you start talking like some nature show or cartoon, I'm smothering you in your sleep." Dean said with a laugh. "Hey, the space needle was in one of those sci fi shows a fewyears back." Dean said. "The chicks in itwere hot."

"Thank you... that's where that imagery came from. I loved that show... even if that one guy looked way too much like you for comfort. You know the one killing and stealing people's teeth. "

"Yeah, he was a little messed up." Dean said with a laugh. "His clone was a total player though. You know something weird, Dad liked that show. Probably because it had no demons or any restless spirits in it."

"Probably." Sam said. "That and the whole subset of culture thing trying to make the world a better place." He shrugged. "Still.. even if the imagery was something from pop culture... I still think it's a warning."

"Could be. But is it a warning of what happens if we don't find the sword, or if we do? Or a fake warning from the demon to throw us off course? LikeI said dude, you need subtitles and a program." Dean said with a chuckle. They'd find the sword, because that was the first vision.

"I don't know... for all I know it's not connected to the sword at all." Sam shook his head. "It could have been nothing but side line imagery too. Not going to worry about it until I get something more clear."

"Or maybe you should have stayed asleep longer because you were working up to a nice hot porn like dream with Jessica Alba." Dean suggested with a smirk. "Not everything is dark and heavy you know."

Sam shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Pervert." He said with a laugh. Okay, maybe there was a little bit of normal in their lives.

Dean laughed as he drove. "So?" He said. "It's fun, you should try it. Tell you what, when we get to the first store, you can talk dirty to the proprietor and practice."

"Dude, you're the one that flipped out that I had watched porn once... I am so not going to talk dirty in front of you. " He said shaking his head. "I'm starving... let's pickup some thing to eat soon."

"I did not flip out at you watching porn. I flipped out that I had to catch you watching porn. We should have a signal or something, so next time I know you're watching porn and I take an extra long walk to a bar or something." Dean said. "Okay, how about Arby's?" He said with a shrug, seeing one up a head.

"Arby's is good and you didn't have to watch me watching porn you came in and turned the tv off. " Sam pointed out. "And it's been burned into your little brain ever since. I'm not a saint you know.." He grinned a little.

"Dude, I know you're not a saint." Dean said with a laugh. "You're just weird. I've offered to get you a real girl, not a relationship, just a girl, and you prefer to watch videos. Weird. Sometimes I have no idea how we're related." He joked.

"I'm just not a... one night stand kind of guy, I guess." Sam said with a shrug. Every one he got close to wound up dead, so why bother even tempting fate?

"Don't worry, I'll pick up the slack for you." Dean said with a laugh. "Give Andy a call, let him know we're free and clear for the moment, see how things are going. See if he's scored with Zoe yet." He said with a smirk.

"Pervert." Sam repeated good naturedly as they pulled into the Arby's parking lot. "While I do that, why don't you go get us some food?"

"I'm the pervert? You're the one fixated on whether Dad and Ellen got a little busy." Dean said. "Yeah, just don't disappear on me again, okay?" He said as he reached over Sam into the glove compartment and grabbed some cash.

"Not going anywhere." He said as he started to dial Andy's number. "And it isn't the physical I wonder about." Sam pointed out.

"That's because you're a nerd." Dean said with a laugh as he got out of the car and headed into Arby's, to get a whole bunch of food. Nice, greasy, bad for you fast food. No salads or deli sandwiches or whatever. Grease. Salt.

The man looked up from where he waited for his order. He was tall, strongly built, with dark wavy hair, pulled back at the nape of his neck. Dark eyes locked on Dean's for a moment as though looking into his soul then he simply nodded and returned his attention to the counter.

Dean nodded back a bit. That was..weird. And he felt like he'd been stripped naked in the middle of Arby's and examined. But he turned his attention back to the person taking his order as he ordered for his brother and him. His first thought was he was a cop, and had recognized him or something. But he didn't SEEM likea cop, and Sam had enough worries without mentioning it.

"Can't imagine what would bring anyone here." The man said, with a hint of an Australian accent. "Nothing here but dust bunnies and cattle."

"Topeka has a good zoological park. They recreated a whole rainforest in there." Dean said idly. He'd read that in some brochure. "To others, it passes as home."

"Recreated a rainforest in Kansas huh... now there's trip." He said with a grin. "Still," he said taking his food and double checking the contents of the bag, "it's a real waste of time... and that's the gospel truth." He added, dark eyes twinkling as he started toward the door.

Dean stared after him for a moment. Strange man.

"Sir?" The counter person said, holding out his bags of food.

"Yeah, thanks." Dean said, taking the food. He looked back toward the door, the man had already left. So he shrugged to himself and went back to the car, dropping the bag of food in Sam's lap. "So is Andy getting lucky yet?" He asked with a grin, forgetting about the man. People made small talk waiting in line after all.

"I didn't ask him." He said giving his brother a long suffering look as he took the bag to dig out something to eat. "They are starting to look for alternative housing. I figured if we were found it might be compromised some how. Too risky to stay put."

Dean took the fries as he started to drive. "What do you mean you didn't ask? Dude, I give you one small little task, and you decide to discuss housing for our escaped psychics? What kind of leader are you? You're completely msising out on the big issues."

"I'm not going to invade Zoe's privacy because you're curious. You wanna know, you can ask him." Sam said with a laugh. "So how far to this curiosity shop?"

"Fine. I will. Pansy." Dean said with a laugh, around a mouthful of fries. "Ah, I don't know, an hour?" He said. "Probably one in a long line, but hey, we haven't had a good road trip in ages."

"Yeah. Couldn't get so lucky as to have it be in the first place we look." Sam said as he readjusted in the seat and took out another beef sandwich.

"Dude, that would totally negate the whole idea of a quest if it was at the local corner store." Dean said with a laugh. "And every good fellowshipneeds a quest, right, Samwise?"

"Yeah, don't go losing any fingers there, Frodo." Sam said shaking his head. "Quests are trouble... but what choice do we have?"

"Well, there's the obvious. Don't go." Dean said. "But you'd keep having the visions and the dreams, I'd never get any sleep, and we'd end up going anyway. At least this way we're well rested, right? So you'll be able to recognize it as soon as we step in it? Would save some time."

"If it looks just like the vision, maybe. But since they are throwing in imagery from pop culture, who knows how literal the vision is? These are different. The ones I got from the demon were literal, exact images. This is different. No wonder all the prophesy in the world is written in riddles. You can't figure the damned things out until they actually happen."

"If you ask me," Dean said, and Sam shot him a look, clearly saying he hadn't asked, "that whole space needle thing? That was just the start of a really freaky, in a good way freaky, dream. But we'll hit as many as we can along the way. Curiosity shops aren't the big business they once were, so it's not like we've got a million. Maybe just a couple thousand." He said with a chuckle.

"No doubt all of them have some sort of supernatural thing going on. That much weird shit in one place is going to attact something." Sam said with a laugh. He didn't believe Dean's take on the whole dream thing. He thought there was something coming... something dark enough to over shadow everything they had experienced to date.

"Well, we'll see. At least it will keep us busy." He felt better when he was hunting, when he was being productive. When he was just DOING something period. This quest seemed so aimless. "But, I don't know, I don't think it's in Kansas at all, thinking about it now. Just a feeling."

"Any ideas where else to look?" Sam asked. He had spent his entire life trusting Dean's instincts. Not necessarily his logic, but always his instincts.

"I don't know, you said Dust Bowl, right? Nebraska? Northern Texas? I just don't know that Kansas is the place to look. Call it just a funny feeling." Dean said with a shrug. "So pick which way when we come up to this intersection."

"Head south." Sam said. Nebraska just didn't feel right, and in a search like this instinct was as important as hard core information. Besides, maybe his next vision would give him more details.

"Yeah, maybe Oklahoma." Dean mused as he switched tapes in the tape deck. "Besides, we should hit a pawn shop anyway, we're running low on silver."

"Need to stock up on rock salt too. Harder to come by this time of year. Unless we get the ice cream salt." He suggested. "So, when we get to the next town I'll find a hot spot and check out the locations of curiosity shops."

"Sounds like a plan." Dean said. "Do you realize we have a better grasp of road geography than pretty much everyone else?" He said with a laugh. "All this criss crossing and back again."

"You, me and long haul truckers." Sam said with a laugh. He fell silent for a while, lost in thought. Out of his entire life, there had only been 4 years that he had been able to say he had a home. The rest of his life had been utterly nomadic. Ironic that Dean also only had 4 years of so called normal life.

"But hey, sometimes it's fun, right? I mean, we've been known to have a good time." Dean said as he headed south, towards Oklahoma. Out of Kansas, because bad things usually happened in Kansas, or had their start in Kansas. Bad, twisted dark things.

The last time they had been in Oklahoma, they had found Andy. Which was why Sam picked up his cell phone and called him as they crossed the Oklahoma state line a few hours later."Hey man, just stay on Route 66, there is all sorts of interesting shit you can find there. Granted, not all of it's supernatural but I don't know that what you are looking for is going to be found in a supernatural hotspot... I mean... that would be kinda dangerous wouldn't it? Anyway... you gotta at least check out Commerce. It won't be there.. but man... it's Mickey Mantle's home town... how can you pass that up?" Andy asked. "They have a museum there and everything. "

"Dude, we definitely have to check that out." Dean said, having turned the radio off to listen to the conversation. "He's an American icon. Maybe we can find a baseball hat to fit Sam's big head."

"I do not have a big head." Sam said defensively, before going back to asking Andy questions about how things were going, then asking him to tell Ash he wanted him to keep an eye on McKendrick. He was grateful to the man, but didn't trust him completely.

"Sure, will do." Andy said.

"Hey, Andy! How are you and Zoe doing? Or what are you doing?" Dean called out, and if it was possible to hear someone blush, Sam would be hearing Andy blush a nice deep scarlet right now.

"So, ah, Sam, we'll hear from you soon, right?" He said instead.

"Yeah, I'll start checking in every couple of days again. Thanks man. Talk to you then." Sam said and hung up. "Dude, you are fixated." He said to his brother. "Seriously."

"Dude, I'm not. I was curious, and if you had asked him when you talked to him last, I wouldn't have had to." Dean said pointedly. It was all Sam's fault, after all, right? Made sense in his big brother world in any case. "So, we swing by Commerce then."

"Yeah we can swing by Commerce." Sam said with an indulgent smile. Dean was seriously into baseball. One of the things he was really good at as a kid that had nothing to do with the huntand it didn't matter if he had to move all the time or not.

"Oh thanks." Dean said with a laugh. "Seeing as I'm driving and it's my car and all. Thanks for the permission psychic wonder boy." He teased. "Besides, this is so absurdly normal, visiting the Mickey Mantle museum. You wanted an example of normal, right?"

Sam laughed. "Yeah I guess it is the height of normal... baseball ... Oklahoma... can't get much more banal than that."

"Banal?" Dean said, and started into a nice lecture on how baseball was anything BUT banal. At least to him. He could read a simple box score and envision the whole game in his head. Helped, since he missed games, what with his unorthodox and unpredictable work schedule!

Sam let Dean continue with his lecture. He was animated, getting into it with an excitement that Sam rarely saw anymore. In some ways it made him feel bad about their childhood, how much Dean had lost, because part of him could see Dean playing ball professionally if he had been given the chance to do so. Even if it was only in the minors.

"And Mickey Mantle...he drank more than both of us combined. Got laid more than me, even. And he was STILL the best player that ever played the game." Dean said. "I tell ya, he's my role model. Sure his liver was fried and he needed a transplant, but still. He's a role model."

"Yeah, that would explain a lot." Sam said with a grin. "Although let's try and keep the fried liver and all down to a dull roar. I have a feeling that would be harder to pull you back from than a failing heart."

"Just because two beers and you're singing bad kareoke..." Dean said with a laugh. "But, that's what you get for doing all that studying and stuff in high school and crap. And I'm not the worst one in our little fellowship. Ash drinks more than me. I think Bobby does too. And Andy...we can burn his ashes and get high off them. Over and over again. So what did Missouri give you to help us on our little mission?" He asked, they'd stopped there the day before they'd left.

"Nothing much. Just that someone would show up... a guide or a teacher or something. She didn't have details, but she said it was someone that could help us with the sword."

"Well, that's something." Dean said. "Hopefully they come with a resume and excellent credentials." He joked. "Though I wish visions were clearer, I really do. Everything is so freaking vague."

"Yeah, well I would settle for not splitting my head open when they hit, but yeah it would help. Seems like everything since the battle in New Orleans has been seriously encrypted."

Dean laughed. "Sounds like some old historical battle we had to learn in school. The demonic battle of New Orleans. Wonder how the history books are writing this one up." Since the damage had been major, and the news coverage had been 24-7 while it was going on. "So we're gonna get a guide, huh? Hope it'sa she, and I hope she's cute."

Sam laughed and shook his head. "Dude, I think you need to stop by a bar or something tonight. You're fixated again."

"Dude, you make me sound like a junkie." Dean said with a scowl. "But it wouldn't hurt for us to go out, right? I mean, we broke the Hooter's curse. You were injured BEFORE we went there, after all. And you didn't pass out until AFTER I paid the bill."

Sam looked at his brother like he had grown a second head. "Yeah I guess we can go out. Probably need a beer after checking out the curiosity shop. "

"You're probably right." Dean said with a laugh as he pulled off onto the main road of a town, finding a motel.. "Okay, let's bunk down for the night. We can talk about strip clubs in the morning." He said, fighting a yawn. They'd been driving all day, and he hadn't slept that great at the senator's.

7s


	4. Chapter 4

"Come on, Sammy, we're having fun, right?" Dean said through a mouthful of M&Ms. They were in theMickey Mantlemuseum. Right in the house where he grew up. It was a heady moment for Dean.

Sure, the first three curiosity shops were bust. And two more after that, that Ash had told them were open, weren't anymore. Hadn't been for some time. Everything was cleaned out, they'd gone in (uninvited of course) just to make sure.

And sure, they were delayed right now because the Impala needed a brake line. Sam had gotten drunk two nights before and sang kareoke. To make it worse, Dean refused to tell him what he sang, just kept laughing about.

But they were in Mickey Mantle's childhood home, so that made everything all right. Right?

Sam did his best not to rain on Dean's parade. He had never been into sports. But part of him figured that was because Dean and John had been so heavily into baseball, one of the few normal things their father had done with them growing up had been sports, but Sam had felt so alien to his family growing up that it had seemed more like a chore than an outing to him. Some of that was creeping in now, but he beat it down. This wasn't just Dean's childhood hero... this was in a strange way tied to their father as well. "Yeah, we're having fun." He said instead of reverting back to his own childhood and simply glaring.

"Liar." Dean said, good naturedly. And after an hour of wandering around, they headed to the backyard. "You know, this is where his father taught him to switch hit. Ever wonder what our lives would have been like if we'd had a steady backyard?"

"Every day when we were growing up." He said honestly. "I was ashamed of where we lived most of the time. When I got to be too old for you to walk me home, I'd hang around and wait for all the other kids to leave before walking home."

"I didn't think of it most of the time. Knowing as soon as I did, it would be time to move again." Dean said with a sigh as they sat on a bench in front of a statue of the young Mick and his dad. "And you weren't too old, I ended up following you anyways. Keep your ass, and mine, out of trouble."

"Yeah... Dad always seemed to have this strange idea that I was a kid at 18." He laughed a little. "And that you were an adult at 9." He shook his head.

Dean laughed. "Hazard of being the oldest child. You know, I've heard about it from other oldest kids, even the ones with the normal upbringing." He said with a shrug. "It's all right. Now you're the responsible one, and I get to kick back once in a while." This whole sojurn to Commerce wasn't exactly Sam's idea. But they needed a break, however brief.

Sam laughed. "Yeah. I suppose so." He said. "It's strange how we grew up in the same place in the same time, but I swear we had totally different childhoods"

"Nah, you just had more interference than I did." Dean said with an easy grin, meaning all the times he had run interception between Sam and John. "So what's the next stop on our journey?"

"Not sure." He said. "Let's head further south. I have a feeling we need one of those towns that could fit on a postage stamp."

"Which probably means a serious lack of a good dating pool." Dean said with a laugh, using the word 'dating' very very loosely at that. "But sounds good. We should stock up on junk food first, in case this place as a general store that doubles as a feed and tack store."

"I doubt it's gonna be that bad." He said heading back toward the car. "You just want to make sure there's enough peanut M&Ms." Sam couldn't help but smile.

"No, you want to make sure I have enough peanut M&Ms." Dean corrected with a chuckle. "Especially if I'm looking at weird mock ups of god knows what in a dusty curiosity shop. I'm gonna need my M&Ms. Remember how I almost got us kicked out of the last one?" By some shopkeeper who took his job far too seriously, and didn't appreciate the crude, often sexually charged comments he made about different artifacts.

"That had nothing to do with M&M withdrawls." He said as he got in, giving Dean a pointed look. "We can get a couple hundred miles down the road before having to put in for the night if we get going."

"Sounds good to me." Dean said. "We'll have to hit this place on the way back. There must be some corner I didn't poke into or something." He said, because it was normal. It was nice, normal, apple pie American.

Sam just smiled. He was glad they had come here, even if it wasn't something he was interested in. It was good to see Dean relax and just be himself. Not the ever protective big brother, not the hunter, not the hunter of a different sort trolling for a night of release in a stranger's arms.

Dean got in the car and shook his finger at Sam as he turned the engine over. "I see that look." He said. "You're tolerating my obsession for the good of the cause, whatever the cause is. Probably stocking up favors for your own obsessions...but dude, I can't watch porn with my brother. That's just...well, it's just wrong."

"I'm not the one obsessed with me watching porn. " Sam pointed out. "And I always tolerate your obsessions. Some things I tolerate more quietly than others."

"You're a brat." Dean said as he pulled out of Commerce and headed south, per Sam's feeling. After all, they weren't in Kansas due to one of Dean's feelings.

"Jerk." Sam said with a grin and eased back in the seat, letting Dean direct thecourse. He was sure they were supposed to go south but didn't know where south. He figured they would play it by ear.

"Bitch." Dean said, just going by random routes. To what looked right. Whatever route signs said 'south' he turned. No real idea, it nearly felt like a random drive until it was pitch black out and the Impala was due for a refuel. "So, crash tonight or just refuel?"

"Let's put in for the night." Sam said. "I'm exhausted. We can take a look at where we are tomorrow." He sometimes wondered if this weren't some wild goose chase to keep them from the real problems at hand. Then he would have another dream and be more certain than ever that they were on a real mission. Those were the times he wondered if he hadn't gone mad somewhere along the way.

"Good to know I'm not the only one that loses track." Dean said with a chuckle. Sometimes he woke up, and had to think hard about where he was. All the motel rooms blended together after a while. He found a motel and fished out a credit card. "I'll get the room." He said, getting out and going into the office.

The motel clerk looked up as he entered the room. "Single or double" He asked, his tone faintly Australian.

"Double." Dean said as he laid the card down. Deja vu. He could swear he'd seen this guy before. Then again, he'd been in so many hotels, he very well could have. And he met so many people on any given day, it was hard to keep track.

The clerk took the card and looked at the name then looked at Dean, smirking a little as he ran it none the less. "What brings you to these parts? Can't be the scenery."

"Absolutely." Dean said. And he was actually honest. "We just came from Commerce,Mickey Mantlemuseum. Completely worth the drive. This place in particular? Just passing through. It's late and all." He said as he took the card and slipped it back into his wallet.

The clerk grinned a little. "Yeah, spent an afternoon or two over there myself. Unless you have someplace you have to be, head on south when you leave here. There are some interesting sights along the way."

"Interesting is not always good." Dean cracked with a chuckle as he signed the slip with a fake name. But at least it matched the card.

"Sometimes...sometimes that's all the more reason to go." He said handing over the key. "Check out is at 1pm, the ice chest is across from the pool near the soda machines. The restaurant across the street will deliver but... I don't recommend it if you have any love for your stomach."

"Thanks, man." Dean said a she took the key. A small frown burrowing between his brows, but he was just paranoid, right? He went back out to the car and drove the short distance to in front of the room. "The clerk advises against the restaurant across the street." He said with a chuckle as he grabbed their bags.

"Now that's funny." Sam said climbing out of the car and followed his brother to the door. "Guess that means fast food tonight after all. Cause there isn't alot in this town. "

"Better have M&Ms." Dean said with a laugh as he unlocked the door and stared at the room in shock. "Okay. This is the weirdest room we've ever stayed in." It was perfectly clean. Light spreads on the bed. Clean carpeting, not too threadbare.

And a picture of Jesus. And a stature of Mary. And a painting of the Holy Trinity.

"Okay... what does that say about us that clean and lightly colored is weird ?" He asked. "It looks like a ... bedroom more than a hotel room. And I am betting the clerk is Catholic."

"Or at least the decorator of this place." Dean said as he took off his boots. "I'm grabbing the shower first." He said as he grabbed a towel off the small rack in the corner. "Wonder if the shower spouts holy water."

Sam snorted. "Dude, tha'ts bad." He said shaking his head. "So long as theTV guide isn't written in Latin, I think we're safe enough." He settled down at the table and plugged in his lap top.

"No surfing for porn under Jesus' picture." Dean said with a chuckle as he headed into the shower. A decent shower, a steady stream of water instead of a clogged up showerhead that usually let through a light trickle. After the drive, it felt good to wash off the road.

Sam stared long and hard at the computer screen, they hadn't been gone more than a few weeks from Kansas, and things had already started taking new turns. Including McKendrick's shift from the vice presidential candidate to presidential. His running mate having suddenly come down terminally ill. He didn't know why it had given him a shiver, but it had.

Dean came out and looked over Sam's shoulder. "Huh." He said, seeing 'McKendrick for President' across the screen. "Well look at that. Your turn for the shower."

"Yeah." He said thoughtfully as he rose from his seat. He would call Allen later and congratulate him, offer condolences on his friend. Test the waters again.

Dean surfed through the site himself as Sam was showering. Reading press statements, watching a few short video clips. "I hate politicians." He said. "Can't tell when they're telling the truth."

Sam came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. "Yeah, I know." He said as he picked up his cell phone and dialed the senator's personal number. "Allen, hey. I just heard the news. Don't know if I should congratulate you or offer my sympathies."

"I'd take condolensces right now. David is a good friend, a good man." Allen said solemnly. "He could have made such a difference." He said with a sigh.

"I can understand that. So there isnt much hope for him then?" Sam asked in a sympathetic tone. This form of Death was something alien to him really. Deans close brush with it, was as close as he had come and even then he had fought it with everything he had, damn the consequences.

"No. It's a particularly aggressive brain tumor. Inoperable, and we didn't find it until his physical. All presidential and vice presidential candidates are required to have a physical." Allen said with a sigh. "And no one would vote for a man with a time bomb in his head."

"You never know when the government would be thrown into chaos that way... I'm sorry about your friend. Who are they sticking you with as a running mate?"

"We'll see after the primary." Allen said with a note of fatigue in his voice. "Hopefully someone I like, or the next four years will be intolerable." There was no doubt he was going to win. Of course, you talk to any politician, and there's never any doubt they'd win, if you asked them.

"Oh I'm sure you can make the best of it. But anyway... I just wanted to check in, make sure you were okay and all." Sam said. He had felt a kinship with the senator. Something pulling there that he didn't feel with the others like them.

"I'm all right. All things considered." Allen said. "How are you two doing? You feeling all right?"

"Yeah, I'm doing pretty well, actually. My head is much better. Thank you. I appreciate all the help you gave us. I wouldn't have blamed you if you had turned us in when we first showed up."

"Yeah, well, I'll probably ask for a favor then, come November." Allen said with a chuckle, meaning at the voting polls. "But I'm glad whatever they did to you is resolved now."

"Funny thing... being a fugitive and all. I can't exactly register to vote." Sam said in good humor. "I'll stay in touch though. Who knows? Maybe you can help us out with that little problem later and I can vote for the second term." He teased.

"You have my number if you need anything." Allen said. "Keep your brother out of trouble. Easiest way to keep you out of trouble.""Easier said than done, but I try." Sam said. "I'll talk to you later." He said and hung up. "Inoperable aggressive brain tumor. " He told Dean. "Don't know who his running mate is going to be now. Looks like we might have connections to theWhite Housecome November."

"Dude, maybe he'll have interns." Dean said with a chuckle as he got ready for bed and turned down his bed. "That would be something else, wouldn't it? And you'll always be able to say, 'I puked on the president's shoes'."

Sam laughed. "Nice... great story to tell the kids and grandkids. Yep I puked on President McKendrick's shoes." The laughter faded and he shuddered. "Wow.. just had a chill. Did you feel that?"

"Chill? Like cold spot chill? Or the air conditioner is on and you're fresh from a shower chill?" Dean asked, grabbing his bag and digging through it just in case. The salt lines were down, but maybe some firepower was needed.

"Someone walked over my grave type chill. " He explained. He didn't know if it was an internal or external source, better safe than sorry however.

Dean tossed him a rock salt loaded sawed off shot gun. "Okay, well, let's just hope it's one of those things." Dean said. Nothing else to do, really. All precautions were taken.

Sam set the shot gun beside the bed in easy reach, and a knife under his pillow. "Yeah." He said as he pulled on his boxers and tossed the towel into the bathroom.

Dean turned out the light. But five minutes later he turned it back on, walked over to the dresser where the Blessed Mother statue was, with hands outstretched and a benevolent expression on her ceramic face.

He'd thought it would be plastic, but when he touched the statue, turning it to face the wall, he realized it was ceramic. Heavy ceramic too. Then he returned to his bed.

"Dude, what was that about?" Sam asked from the other side of the room.

"Dude, she was watching me." Dean said as he crawled back into bed. "Can't say I blame her, even virgins get to look, but it was creepy."

"Okay ... first off... that's seriously... you know...sacreligious or something... and it's just a statue. Statues can't look."

"Yeah. Okay. Like that painting was just a seriously creepy painting. Oh, and that tree? It was just a really old tree." Dean pointed out with a chuckle. "Night Sam."

"Good night Dean..." He said shaking his head and turning over. Figures icons would make Dean uncomfortable. Then again, who knew what it really was making them uncomfortable?

Dean felt better knowing the statue wasn't looking at him. And he slept rather well, running out for drive through while Sam was still sleeping. "Come, rise and shine princess. Got breakfast." He said as he set the bags on the table.

Sam sat up and yawned. "Oh... thanks." He said swinging his feet over the edge of the bed. "So... feel like revisiting Texas?" Not that either of them had entirely fond memories of Texas.

"Sure." Dean said easily. "Doubt Dad will crawl out of well this time around, but sounds good. It's south." He said as he turned the statue around again to face forward."Too bad. I miss him." Sam said as he moved to get dressed before eating. Right now especially, when things seemed to not make sense anymore. But his father had moved on. Was with their mother again. He wouldn't wish him out of that for anything.

Dean nodded. "I know. If he were here, hep robably wuold have made sense out of everything, and then gone for a beer." He said with a chuckle. "I don't know, but he's gone. So we get to figure this one out on our own."

"I know. Trouble is, it's not making any sense. None of it." Sam sighed and ate his breakfast sandwich. "Unfortunately it's not necessary for it to make sense. "

"Would be nice if it did." Dean said with a laugh. "All right, let's go check out. Then head south. Any more south we'll be in Mexico...might not be a bad thing. I mean, that would be different, right?"

"That would be different, except for that whole customs check point thing." Sam said "Then again that could be uncomfortably different."

"Okay, good point." Dean said with a laugh. "Fine, we'll turn around at the Rio Grande. Hopefully we'll find this thing before we get that far though. I keep thinking south, but if it's in Guatemala, you're on your own."

"If it's inGuatemala, we wait till Allen gets elected so that we can call the president as our one phone call." Sam teased, picking up his bags and heading toward the door.

Dean laughed, and shivered a bit. "Okay, we're out of here. There's something up with this room, and we don't have time to deal with it." He said as he picked up his own bags and headed out the door.

"I'll put it on the list of things to take care of later." Sam said, feeling it too. Seemed strange since the room was comfortable, even comforting for the most part.

"I think this we can pass onto some other hunter. Leave it with Ellen at the roadhouse." Dean said. He was into delegating, because this was probably minor. Haunted hotel. Nothing violent had happened, just some drafts and cold spots.

"Yeah, probably a newbie job easily enough." Sam wasn't used to delegating. He certainly wasn't used to Dean delegating. His brother was immersed in theirquest. Sam just wished he had more to go on. Unfortunately quests were long and slow processes.

"Dude, we can't keep chasing down every spirit we come across. We've got a lot of ground to cover, and probably not much time to do it in." Dean said with a shrug. "Not saying we're gonna drive right on by everything we come across, but the easy stuff, sure."

Sam nodded looking up at the sky. "Yeah, you're probably right. Let's get going though. Don't like the looks of those clouds." He said as he got into the car.

Dean laughed as he got into the car. "Been a while since I've outrun a tornado in this baby." He said as he pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road. They weren't even past the town limits when the hail started. "Dammit. And I just retouched the paint."

"Are you sure we want to head out in this? We might be able to out run the storm, or we could be running into it."

"And what? Spend another night with the Virgin Mary?" Dean cracked. "Dude, if I'm not into that whole seventy two virgins idea, what makes you think I'm into the one virgin idea? Nah, we'll be fine." But he pressed the gas a little harder.

Sam laughed and settled into his seat, he couldn't really blame Dean. That room had some how given him the creeps too, although he didn't think the statue had been the source of it.

Dean's eyes narrowed as he drove. The roads were rough. Wet, and the hail wasn't letting up. "Okay, you don't see any funnel clouds anywhere, do you?" He asked as he kept driving, his hands white knuckle clenched on the steering wheel as the winds kicked up.

"I don't see much of anything, to be honest." Sam said, peering out the windows through the heavy rain. The windshield wipers weren't quite keeping up with the down pour. His eyes widened as the car was buffeted by the winds.

Dean fell silent as he drove. It was taking all his concentration as he controlled the wheel. He'd never had to fight the car before. The thing was a freaking tank. And the winds were blowing it around like it was some Japanese plastic box. He was even forced to slow down as visibility got even worse. "Okay, we gotta find some place to pull over before the roads flood out."

"Righ.t" Sam said and pulled out the map and looked it over. "Next major road is 5 miles ahead. We're gonna have to take one of the side roads and hope for the best, cause I don't think we'll make it another five miles on this one."

The car was moving at a crawl. Dean could feel the tires losing traction as he carefully steered, still having to fight it. The downside of no power steering he supposed. "Not sure any sideroads would be better than this one." Dean said as he wiped at the window. It was fogging up quicker than the vents would work, he even had the windows cracked.

"Unfortunately those are our options." Sam said, taking over wiping the windows, knowing Dean needed both hands for steering in this weather. "There aren't any rest areas around here and a wide spot in the road is just gonna flood as fast as the road."

Dean sighed and frowned at the road. "Fine." Dean said. "You're reading the car her bedtime story though, when we find a place."

"Thought you were the one that said she was just a car. Personally, now would be a great time for her to actually be possessed. " Sam said and looked out the window, hoping for some sign that it was letting up. Only to be nearly blinded by the bright flash of light and thunder barely a second apart.

Dean chuckled a bit at that comment, but his jaw tightened at the thunder. "Dammit." He said, having to slow down. He was seriously hydroplaning now. "Sam, we might have to pull over and hope she floats."

"This car is not going to float." Sam said. It was real metal, not fiberglass. "There...there's a side road, pull up in there. Maybe there is someplace we can take shelter for a while."

Dean's jaw grew tighter as he carefully navigated a turn Sam indicated, nearly missing it though they were practically crawling. And made it an hour down the road when he swerved to miss a tree that was falling. It landed mere inches away from the car, and the car had swerved into a deep puddle (some might call it a lake in fact) and sputtered out into a stall. "Son of a bitch!" Dean said, slamming the wheel with the heel of his hand as it wouldn't start for him.

The next flash of lightening revealed a building in the distance. It didn't look the most stable in the world, but it was more likely to keep them dry than sitting in the Impala and waiting forthe stormto wash them away."There's a barn up there, I think. Let's go up there and wait for the weather to clear up a little, she's just flooded, she will be fine when the water recedes. "

Dean was already getting out of the car. "Sam, get her in neutral." He called out over the storm, getting behind the Impala and bracing himself on the bumper.

Sam put the car in neutral and slid over to the driver's side, and out the driver's door, pushing as well as steering the car, even though that was more difficult than usual with the water and mud beneath them. It was hard enough to get traction with their feet, much less with the tires of the car.

Dean concentrated on pushing the car, soaked to the bone within minutes, and his back and legs already starting to feel numb. But it was moving, slowly and surely. Very slowly, and not so surely.

It took them nearly an hour to get the Impala into the barn. It wasn't a stable structure by any definition. In fact, Sam figured if the wind got too much worse it would rattle the place to the ground around them. But it was better than sitting in the Impala waiting for the rain to wash them down the road. He pulled their bags out of the car and tossed Dean his. "You're shivering. Get into something dry."

Dean caught the bag. "I'm not shivering." He said, doing his damnest to stop his teeth from chattering. But he did change. His clothes were sopping wet, he could have wrung them out. Instead he threw them over a rail. "Okay, well, at least we're dry." He said as he popped the hood to make sure all that had happened was the engine had gotten flooded by the water.Sam changed clothes as well, keeping an eye on his brother. He supposed he could open the door and make a fire down that end of the barn if they needed one, but at the moment he figured the draft would make the heat from the fire pointless.

Dean was still shivering, so he put on extra layers as he looked over the car. "Spark plugs are soaked." He said, shaking his head. "Okay, well, looks like we're bunking down here for a bit." He said as he sat with his back against the car. "You doing okay?"

"Starting to warm up a bit. What about you?" Sam asked, watching his brother carefully. Dean was still shivering whether he wanted to admit it or not. "Maybe we should start a fire."

"Then two things will happen. We'll set the place on fire. Or the wind will blow it out anyway, so it wouldn't matter anyway." Dean said. "Think I threw my back out. After everything I've freaking done in my life, NOW I throw my back out. Couldn't have been with that waitress in Memphis...no."

"Dude, I have no desire to know about the waitress in Memphis." He said as he went to the trunk to get out the medicine back and the flexeril for Dean's back. They were nothing if not prepared.

"You sure? It's a good story." Dean said with a grin as he took the flexeril dry, then wrapped his arms back around himself. His shoulders were burning, his back was throbbing. And all the rain and cold wasn't helping. "Okay, so spark plugs have to dry. Then hopefully she'll turn over and we can get going."

"Sounds good to me." Sam said, figuring they were there for the night at a minimum. Thankfully the Impala would work for both of them to sleep in, even if Sam would be bent like a pretzel. "You're still cold, aren't you?"

"Dude, I'm fine." Dean said with a scowl as he shifted. As long as his brother believed he was fine, he could hide a multitude of things.

Sam didn't believe a word of it. Not really. He made a point of not believing Dean anytime he said the words 'I'm Fine'. Usually it meant that he wasn't anywhere near fine. "Good thing we stocked up on junk food before leaving town." He said, not pushing it at the moment.

Dean managed to chuckle. "True." He said. "That should hold us over a couple days." He stood up painfully and stiffly, favoring his right leg. "I'm gonna crash out, actually."

"Probably a good idea. Why don't you grab the blanket out of the trunk?" Sam suggested, still worried about Dean's body temperature. He didn't look good as far as he was concerned.

"Yeah, I'll do that." Dean said, making his way to the trunk, holding onto the car more than he would have liked, but less than he needed to, grabbing the blanket and crawling into the front seat. "Night Sam." He said, curling into a ball as much as he was able to.

Sam frowned. He wasn't getting any sleep anytime soon. He had to keep an eye on Dean for a while. "Night." He said as he set about cleaning the weapons to keep himself occupied and awake.

He didn't think it was possible, but Dean woke up hours later feeling worse than he did when he laid down. It wasn't the bench seat. He'd slept on it plenty of times. Sometimes sitting up, and never felt like this. Too hot and too cold all at once. And afraid to move because right now, nothing hurt. There was the threat of achiness that would turn into full blown hurt if he so much as twitched, but no real pain.

Then he started coughing, his chest feeling like it was full of water, and the whole 'don't move a muscle' thing went right out the window."Dean?" Sam was in the car and leaning over the seat looking at his brother. "Damn it." He swore, knowing that Deanwas sick. "I knew I should have lit a fire and warmed you up last night." He rested his hand over Dean's forehead.

Dean brushed off Sam's hand. "Get off me dude." He said, wincing at that movement alone. "Give me a few minutes, some of us aren't easy risers like you." He said, at an attempt at levity.

"You've got a fever." Sam sifted through the first aid kit, pulling out the tylenol and an antibiotic. "Here take these." He said handing them over the seat to his brother.

Dean scowled and took the pills. Debating actually taking them. Right now his stomach and him were on friendly terms (about the only part of him that was), he wasn't sure he wanted to chance that. "Dude, I'm fine."

"Tell it to someone who believes you." Sam said mildly. "Swallow them. I will get something for you to eat to keep the stomach happy."

Dean chuckled. "Come on, that came off sincere, didn't it?" He said, but not in the mood to fight with his brother. He didn't have the energy, as he took the pills and curled back up. "Is it still raining out?" His head was pounding, he couldn't tell if it was the roof or his headache."Yeah, it's been coming down pretty heavy all night." Sam said. "I don't get cell reception in here either." He had tried to contact Ash. There was something about this storm that bothered him.

"Wow. Any bad news, or are you just buttering me up with the good news first?" Dean teased and did a test stretch. And quickly decided against that.

"I figured you would want the good news, just waking up and all." Sam said with a grin. "Saving the bad news for later." Not that there was anything else he could really tell him that wasn't obvious.

"Bitch." Dean said. It was a couple of hours before Dean managed to drag himself out of the car, and even that was against Sam's objections. He popped the hood to check the damage. "Plugs are still wet. This humidity isn't doing them any favors." He said in between harsh coughs.

"It's not doing you any favors either." Sam said as he got to his feet and started looking around the old dilapidated barn. He began to gather anything that looked like it might be flammable.

"I'm fine." Dean said, in between what was sounding more and more like a seal bark than a cough from being in a dusty barn. He was still pale, except for his cheeks, which were flushed, even hiding the freckles that continually lurked on his skin. "Maybe a couple more hours, they'll be dry."

"Especially if I get a fire going." Okay, Dean wanted to lie, so be it. Sam knew better. And a fire was the only way he had to get rid of the dampness that would be doing him more harm than good.

"And you said I liked to play with fire a little too much." Dean said, slumping down by the car to take a break. The cool metal felt good against his hot face.

"I didn't mean it literally." Sam said with a laugh as he got a space cleared and a smallish pile of wood set ready to go. He needed to get the air dried out a little, and the spark plugs dried enough to get Dean out of here and to a nice dry hotel room.

Dean chuckled in between coughs as he took the spark plugs out, hoping they'd dry faster that way. And dug out a bag of junk food, tossing his spare zippo to Sam. "My good one's still drying. But that one should do the trick."

"Thanks." He said and soon the fire was burning lowly. He opened the door partially, and did his best to block them in place, so that the smoke would blow out rather than choking them out. "Yeah, once they are dry we'll get some place dry and you can get some rest."

Dean chuckled. "You act like I haven't slept. I slept last night, more than you did." Dean pointed out. He could see the wear on his brother's face. "But someplace dry is definitely a plan. I like that plan."

Sam grinned "I dont sleep well with my knees under my chin" He said, making light of it. When the fact was he had been keeping an eye on his brother. "I am looking forward to using all the hot water too"

Dean laughed. "You know I'll guilt you out of that one." Dean said. Coughing, but then he recovered. "After all, steam opens up everything, right? So obviously I need the steam because I've got a cold. And steam will just make your hair fluffier. Like when we were in Miami, with all that humidity. Remember that? You almost had a 'fro going."

"I did not have a 'fro going." Sam said giving Dean a look. He wasn't sure steam was a good idea. It might open things up, or it might send him into a coughing fit hard enough to hurt himself. Wouldn't be the first time.

"Dude, you so had a 'fro going." Dean said with a laugh. Which turned into a coughing fit. Which left his face a worrisome shade of purple and wheezing afterwards as he went to the medicine bag. "We've got morphine, we've got demerol, we've got anti-inflammatories...how come we never pack cough medicine?" He asked between wheezes. But he was fine. Really.

"Cause the only one that ever gets sick is you and you won't admit it." Sam pointed out. "So we never stock it cause you don't think we need it. Guess you won't complain next time I want to toss a bottle of nyquil in there." He said with a frown. He was starting to get worried. "Heavy duty cough syrup has codiene in it... do we have any of that in there?"

"We've got instant release morphine. Same class, and I'm not taking it. I need my cough to stop, not to be knocked out and woozy." Dean said with a scowl and he sat back down. "And I wouldn't talk there, buddy boy. Someone so much as pinches YOU hard and you get an infection."

"I do not. Have to actually shove a foreign object into my skin. You got a little wet outside of a shower and you're coughing like you need an iron lung." Sam wondered if it would be worth it to walk into the nearest town to get some guaifenesin. Then the lightening stuck outside, hitting the ground mere feet from the barn flooding it with blinding light.

Dean groaned and covered his eyes. The blinding light did nothing for his headache. "Shaddup." He said with a chuckle. "You're the one who says I'm sick, not me. I'm fine."

"You know, it's funny. You know you have never really been able to lie to me effectively about that. So why do you keep trying?"

"On the off chance one day you'll believe me because I'm older and wiser?" Dean said, finding a bottle of water in the car and drinking it. "It's bound to happen eventually."

"Sure, when you actually manage to be wiser, I might consider it." Sam said. "Or maybe if you say it when you aren't either bleeding or running a fever... or suffering from heart failure."

"Can't use the last one. I fully admitted I was dying, which is really far from fine. I just didn't need you hovering over me and trying to tuck me in and buckle my seat belt for me." He said with a chuckle. "Some amount of manliness has to be retained."

"Give me a break. I was never the caregiver, remember? That was you. I was new at it. Have a lot more experience now."

Dean laughed. "You got a lot to catch up on. I did teething, diapers, potty training...tying shoes..." He said and coughed, drinking water quickly to cover it. "How do the spark plugs look?" He asked, not having the energy to get up and look at them himself.

"Pretty good. Let me go take a look at the roads." Sam said as he got up and pulled his jacket up over his head.

"Uh huh. Good idea." Dean said as he carefully shrugged off his jacket and sweatshirt. He was cold before, now he was hot. And his hooded sweatshirt was drenched in sweat. So he balled it up and laid down. While Sam was checking the roads, he'd get a little shut eye. Just a little. Probably wake up as soon as Sam came back in. That was the plan.

The roads were terrible. When you could see them for the rain. Sam was thinking they could wait a few hours longer to set out again. That is, until he found his brother. "Dean?"He didn't receive an answer. He lay his hand on his brother's forehead and swore. He put the spark plugs back, and set them in place according the marks on the plugs indicating where they had been set previously. He didn't need the car tuned badly. Might wake Dean up, but it might also delay them getting anywhere that he could get medication for him.

Dean didn't respond, he was as responsive as a lead weight in Sam's arms as he was lifted and dragged into the front seat. Sam couldn't risk putting him in the backseat. His attention had to be on the road, but he wanted Dean in the corner of his eye as he got the seatbelt around his brother's unconscious form and eased the Impala back onto the road.

It was a long slow drive into the next town. Between the state of the road and the state of his brother, Sam was so tense he was shaking as he pulled into the feed and seed parking lo.t "I won't be long." He said, even though his brother wasn't awake or responsive in any way. The feed and seed had medications for animals. Including penicillin. A trick they had grown up knowing about. Wouldn't be the first time one of them had been given a shot from a bottle marked for bovine use. Another stop at a drug store produce guaifenesin, and several bottles of nyquil. Each time he left his brother alone in the car he was half afraid he would come back and find him not breathing at all. He almost didn't see the motel for the rain, and it was like running through artillery to get to the door between the hail and the thunder.He got his brother into one of the beds and prepared the injection of penicillin.

Dean didn't move, or wince, or even groan as he was injected. Just wheezed. Sam propped him up on all the pillows he could find, to get him sitting up as much as possible. The way Dean's head lolled to the right would have been comical were it not for the actual circumstances.

Sam was trying to straighten his brother's head when there was a knock at the door, the hotel manager. He handed Sam blankets when Sam opened the door, darkhair wavy from the rain peeking out around the hood of his poncho. "Your brother didn't look quite well." He said.

Sam looked back at Dean. "Yeah, he got caught in the rain last night. It's a nasty flu bug." He said, although he suspected it was worse. "Thanks for the extra blankets. We appreciate it." He didn't want the man tempted to call an ambulance or anything.

The manager looked around Sam to the unconscious man on the bed. "Flu?" He said, with a bit of a chuckle. Walking right in. He had a way about him that basically shouted 'move aside'. And an undercurrent that said that arrogance was NOT unearned. Dark eyes flashed to Sam as he looked Dean over. "I...used to be a medic...in the Army." He said in a lightly accented voice. "Your brother has pneumonia." He said, laying a hand on Dean's chest as he breathed, maybe to count the breaths. "He'll be fine." He said, and just as unexpectedly, walked out.

Sam watched him go, wondering what the hell was going on, but no harm no foul as far as he could tell. "Thanks." He said, closing and locking the door behind him.He went back to his brother and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Dean come on, you have to wake up long enough to take the meds." He said as he tried to rouse his brother.

Dean didn't wake up for another few hours, when his fever momentarily broke, soaking his clothes and the sheets. His brother was in the middle of trying to rouse him again too, by shaking his shoulder.

"Dude, make up your mind." Dean mumbled, eyes still closed. "It's either Dean, you need to sleep or Dean, you need to wake up. You're confusing."

Sam sighed in relief. "Come on. Time to take your med." He said, producing the nyquil and the guaifenesin. "You've been asleep since before we left the barn." Nearly 12 hours now, by his reckoning.

"We left the barn?" Dean mumbled. "Huh." He didn't remember that part. But wherever he was did seem to be a lot drier than the place he had laid down for a quick nap. Twelve hours? He was pretty sure he taught Sam how to tell time.

Sam helped him take the meds, then change into something dry. "It's alright. We can stay here until the storm lifts." He figured Dean would fight staying until he was better, the storm he wouldn't put up too much fuss about.

"You drove in this storm?" Dean said, coming out of his fogginess slowly. But coming out of it at least as he choked down the NyQuil. "I gotta check my poor car..." He said, cracking open an eye to glare at Sam for the unnecessary danger his baby had been put through.

"Your car is fine. Opening up the hood in a hail storm might not be the best course of action though. They have mutant hail stones in this part of the country."

Dean closed his eyes again, just imagining the dents he'd have to pound out. The damage he might have to bondo. "Figures. Okay, so any news on how long this will last? I feel better. Except my leg of all things hurts."

"Yeah... that's where I gave you the penicillin shot." Sam admitted. "Didn't think I could get the pills down your throat without choking you." He was relieved that he had thought to get the penicillin, figuring that was why his brother was getting better this quickly.

"Great." Dean said with a weak chuckle. But at least he was in dry clothes, even if he'd been a limp rag doll and hardly any help while changing. He coughed, but at least it was a dry cough, and not the wet cough he had been doing before. "Mutant hailstones, mutant flu, what else can go wrong?"

"Don't ask, we might find out." He said and settled down on his bed. "Let me know if you need anything. Picked up some broth packets I can make with the coffee pot." He took out his cell phone and tried calling Ash again.

Ash answered, the line was full of static, but at least he got through. "Man, where you been? I've been trying to call you for, like, a whole day." Ash said.

"No cell reception because of the storm. Let me guess, that was what you were trying to call me about." Sam said as he kicked off his wet shoes and removed the socks, wiggling his pruned up toes.

"Storms, minor earthquakes, electrical storms...man, they're right behind you. Like they're trailing you and trying to catch up." Ash said. "So wherever you are, you really gotta get moving. Don't come north, you'll run right into it."

"Dude, too late." Sam said and told him how the last 36 hours had been going. "I was wondering if they were the demon's handy work again. Seemed a little intense for the area."

"So whatever you're chasing down, he doesn't want you to find it." Ash said. "So I'd find it quick, or retreat for now. He might want you alive, but that doesn't mean he wants you whole."

"I don't think he will stop, Ash. Even if we retreat." Sam knew the demon pretty well. He figured Dean might know him better, but from his estimation there was no stopping it now.

"Gets worse." Ash said, clacking computer keys heard in the background over the static. "Can't say for certain which demon is after you. Might not be after you, bro. That other one wanted Dean, remember? And not all the signs I'm seeing are usually associated with your personal demonic stalker. Could have two fallen angels on your tail."

"He had to ask what else could go wrong." Sam grumbled. "Okay. Keep us informed if you come up with something new. So how goes the hunt for a new safe house?"

"Found it. Abandoned community. Middle America." Ash said with a laugh. "It was built on a toxic dump...but we've got some people here for that. They're there now cleaning it up. We expect to move in and set up shop in about a week or so. It's got about, i think seven houses and three buildings. They didn't get far before they discovered the toxic shit, but we're gonna wire in some electricity, see if we can get the sewer pumps working."

"Sounds good. A little privacy when people get settled in." He said. People were not going to look for them in a site abandoned for toxic hazards. "You're sure they can get it cleaned up well enough to be safe?"

"They say they can. Guess we'll find out." Ash said. "So whatever else I find out, I'll pass along."

"Thanks, man." He said. "I'm gonna go and check on Dean. Be careful." Sam admonished. "I'll let you know if we ever find blue skies."

"Hi. You checked on me. Now what did Ash have to say?" Dean said from his bed, five feet away.He'd heard half the conversation, but his head was still foggy, he couldn't quite make out what Ash was saying.

"You want the good news or the bad news?" Sam asked, trying to sort out how to explain it to Dean. Not that it was difficult. He just wasn't sure how to deal with it all himself.

"Might as well start with the bad. I asked for it after all." Dean said with a quick grin. And somehow knowing how this conversation was going to end, whether Sam liked it or not.

"Well, the storm outside is apparently demonic in nature, but Ash says it's not just old yellow eyes. It's possible the other one is back as well." He said.

"Aw man. I thought we kicked their asses already. How many times are we supposed to do it?" Dean said as he sat up, slowly for his spinning head, and grabbed a pair of socks out of his bag and his boots. "Come on, you can tell me the good news on the way to wherever we were headed in the first place."

"We aren't going any where until tomorrow. I haven't slept since we left the last hotel." Sam admitted. "The good news is that they have found a new place to hole up. Of course they have to clear it of toxic waste first." He added with a sarcastic tone.

"No, Sam. We're leaving now. You think the storm's going to get any better? I'll drive." He could do it on will alone. He'd have to. He at least had slept. "Toxic waste, huh? Always wondered if Ash was born and raised below powerlines to tell the truth."

"No it's not going to let up, but neither of us is up to driving and I don't want a repeat of last night." Sam told him. He was exhausted and Dean hadn't even been able to lift his head roughly an hour before.

"Dude, I'm fine." Dean said. And sat back down. "But you poured NyQuil down my throat." He shook his head. "Fine, four hours, then we really gotta get moving." He said, setting the alarm clock.

"Yeah, NyQuil that you couldn't take without my help, I might add. You aren't fine yet. But you are getting better. Let's not push it. The hotel manager thought you had pneumonia."

"Dude, I've got a cold." Dean scoffed. But he would have said the same thing even if he had been hooked up to a respirator. "Fine. Sleep, we'll sleep. And Sam, this time sleep instead of staring at me. I know I'm cute...but you're my brother and it's disturbing." He joked."Jerk." Sam said with a laugh as he stripped down to his boxers, and slid between the covers. "Good night." He turned his back to Dean.

"Yeah, whatever bitch." Dean said with a chuckle as he got underneath his own pile of blankets. He was grateful for the warmth, since his fever had broken, he was back to chilled. He hit the alarm four hours later, Sam was still sleeping. He could sleep for a bit, Dean would check the car. Even if it was still hailing out, it needed to be checked before going out on another long haul.

"Hell of a storm." Mickey said as he walked past Dean to the room next to theirs, with an arm full of towels. "Good to see you're up and around again."

Dean had the hood carefully propped, so as little hail as possible got under it as he checked out everything. He started at the voice. He KNEW that voice. His head, strangely enough, was still just foggy enough to piece it together as he lowered the hood at turned toward the hotel manager.

"You sure get around." He said suspiciously.

The man turned to face him. "I'm used to the storms. If I waited for it to be over, I'd never get anything done." He said with a smile, brown eyes locking on Dean's green ones.

"You were the one who suggested I head south. For interesting things. You know, I got enough problems with a wild goose chase, don't need cryptic messages on top of it." Dean said. He was positive, positive, this was the man from Arby's, and the other hotel.

There was the distinct look of surprise, but a pleasant one, on the man's face "Oh there are no wild geese around here." He said as he opened the door to the room and set the towels on the table there, except for one that he tossed to Dean. "In fact.. I would say that if you kept on this road here... you might find things that... bear absolutely no resemblance to geese at all...if you keep your eyes open, that is."

"Well, I'm really sick of geese." Dean said, wiping off with the towel. He buried a cough in the towel, and when he recovered, the manager was gone. He hadn't been coughing that long either.

Disconcerted, he went back to the room and woke Sam up. "Come on, bro, time to go."

Sam sat up. "How ya feeling?" He asked looking Dean over. "You're wet. Been out in the storm with that cold? Are you nuts?"

"I'm good. And I've been called worse." Dean said with a chuckle. "Just checking on the car. And that hotel manager, he gives me the creeps." He couldn't say that he was stalking Dean, when he'd appeared wherever they were first.

"Seemed nice enough to me last night." Sam said as he pulled his clothes on. "Why, what did he do?"

"Nothing." Dean said. It was hard to explain. It didn't even make sense to him, so how could he explain it to Sam? "He just creeps me out. I swear I've seen him before. Not in the cop way, but I've seen him before."

"Fine, let's get out of town then. Maybe we can out run the storms as we head south, but I have a feeling the rain is going to follow us." Sam said as he pulled on his jacket and hefted one of the bags.

Dean got the other bag and they dashed to the car, still getting pretty soaked. He got behind the wheel before Sam could say anything, and blasted the heat. Sam was boiling, but it dried up all of Dean's passages, his throat, his nose, he didn't need to cough as much, so Sam bore it in silence, and cracked the window a tiny bit. "Okay, south." Dean said. "I think this road goes south, right? Or did I get turned about?" He hadn't driven here after all. He'd been passed out where Sam was now sitting.

Sam looked around a moment to get his bearings. "Yeah it goes south. We're good to go." He wondered if this quest would ever end or if it would wind up like their father's quest to kill the demon. Nothing but an endless need.

"Dude, this is kinda fun." Dean said. "And no I don't havea sky high fever anymore." He said with a chuckle. "Oh the storm isn't. And this cold I have definitely sucks. But compared to all the other searches we've been on, this one is a little lighter. You know? We're not searching for Dad, that was a nightmare." Not knowing if he was dead or alive, or even if he even cared sometimes."There is that." Sam said with a faint laugh. "And it's not like we are running from anythinganymore. well... we sort of are ..." The storm was evidence of that. "But at least it's nothing new and nothing with guns."

"So when we find this sword, your visions tell you what we're supposed to do with it? Hold it up to the sky and scream 'I have the power' or something?" Dean asked as he managed to get a bit ahead of the storm. Visibility was better, which meant he could speed up.

"Did you actually just say that with a straight face?" Sam asked with a laugh. "Dude," he shook his head, "I don't know what to do with it honestly, only that we are supposed to find it."

"Hey, I got a kick out of the image of you holding the sword." Dean said with a laugh. "Gotta get your kicks where you can get them, since the storm has probably closed all the bars down and all."

"Dude... that is so wrong... " Sam grinned as he leaned against the car door. "So still feelingthe pull to go south?" He asked. He hadn't gotten anymore visions while they had been taking this route. That meant either they were so far off course that it wasn't pulling at him any more, or they were on course and it was cheerfully waiting where ever it was waiting.

"So far. That and common sense." Dean said. "The storm is to the north of us. Probably going west and east. So south takes us away from it. Always a good policy. Like I said, as long as we don't end up in Guatemala, I'm cool."

"Away from the storm is always good. Of course who knows what the demon will have been up to in our absence." He remembered the storms just before Dean had arrived to tell him their father was missing. Storms that had heralded Jessica's death.

"One thing at a time, Sammy." Dean said quietly. Wasn't like the thought hadn't crossed his mind once or twice, at least. It had. But he was better going one task at a time.

"Yeah I suppose so, oh hey... look...50 miles to the Barnhardt's Museum of the Unexplained." He said giving his brother a look. It would be their 30th such curiosity shop. He had run out of hope that it would be their last.

"Ooh I like the name of that one. Very auspicious. Which means it'sa hole in the wall in the back of a forgotten strip mall." Dean said with a laugh. "Or someone's barn or back room. Remember that place in Minnesota? You know the one in that old woman's garage?"

"Oh yeah, that had some interesting things in it. I still say the so called angel in that one was actually her long deceased husband with some paper mache wings wired on." Dean said with a laugh. "Yeah... but we didn't get any EMF readings, so he wasn't objecting at least." He said laughing as well. The best part of this whole quest was that they could laugh at a lot of it. It was a break from the horror their world had become.

"Or how about that alien corpse on the shores of Lake Michigan? That one was pretty cool." Dean said with a grin. "That took a lot of work, I respect that, the guy cared enough about his con to put some serious man hours into it."

"You have any idea how wrong that sounds? Just plain wrong." He said with a laugh. "Although I thought he was gonna bolt when you shook his hand and congratulated him on a job well done."

"It was a job well done!" Dean said with a laugh. "Hey, is that the sun or am I still high on cough medicine?" He said, pointing to a small sliver of gold peeking through dark clouds in the direction they were driving.

"I think that's the sun." Sam said. "Hmm... " he said wondering at it. "Oh hey, next right willtake us to Barnhardt's. 2 miles down that road. If the sign is accurate."

"I really hope it is." Dean said with a chuckle as he turned on the road. It was still raining, but not hailing anymore. And his car wasn't being tossed around like a whiffle ball by the wind. "Told you if I drove fast enough eventually I'd out run the storm."

Sam laughed. "Not sure that's how we got past the storm, but it's as good an explanation as any." He had a good feeling about this particular stop. He couldn't explain why but he did.

It was an old ramshackled barn in the back of an equally ramshackled (but surprisingly inhabited) house. Dean passed it twice before he was finally convinced to slow down to get into the narrow, gutted rutted driveway, wincing as the Impala bounced along in the mud, thinking of having to overhaul the suspension (again). "Wow, okay, this might be the creepiest one we've been to."

"Yeah... I think you might be right." Sam said. "But it's a chance to get out and stretch our legs." He said, figuring if nothing else they could get a few laughs before getting back on the road once more.

Dean parked the car and shook his head. The fact that he was scouring freak shows for a mythical sword his brother had seen in a vision never ceased to amaze him. But he got out of the car and stretched. "Hey, I'm in the mood for ribs. You think this place has a rib shack anywhere near it?""Don't know. Anything is possible around here. This has been the weirdest stretch of road we have been down in a long while." Sam said as he led the way to the door of the 'museum'. It appeared to be open but no one was tending the register...there was actually a cash register. "Hmm... must have a gift shop or something inside." He couldnt figure they would make much money off of it otherwise.

"I didn't see a sign charging admission." Dean said as he carefully looked around. There seemed to be a layer of dust over everything, and hanging in the air. So he blamed that for his lingering cough. It was a good excuse. "Hey, dude, I think this is a real mummy." He said, peering close at a figure of a mummified man.

"Yeah well, don't go reading from any golden books then." Sam teased looking over his shoulder with a grin. Then coughed as he kicked up a pile of dust. "You know... as dry as it is in here, even with all the rain... starting to think maybe that was the curator and he laid down for a nap or something."

"Or I gave you my cold. I'm into sharing like that." Dean said as he moved away from the mummy. He poked around a bit more. "And no aliens. What? Aliens don't like this area of the country or something? We haven't seen a good alien in a while."

"Aliens are all over the south west cause of Roswell. Here I think it's an entirely different breed of redneck or something." Sam said as he moved to the back of the barn. There was so much stuff piled there, that he felt like he was looking for the proverbial needle in a hay stack.

Dean poked around the shop, picking up a few weird small exhibits, like the four headed fetus in a jar. He thought it was a pig, maybe a cow, couldn't tell, it was all shriveled in formaldehyde. "Dude, they've got a big ass butterfly in here and calling it a fairy." He said as he looked in a case. Nope, it was definitely a butterfly. Butterfly on steroids, but it wasn't some fairy.

Sam wandered over to his brother. "Yeah, but you gotta admit, that is one cool butterfly. I mean it could carry off a small dog I think." He said with a grin, then the grin faded as he heard something shuffling across the floor and turned to see nothing behind them.

Dean looked around. "Okay this place is creepy. Let's see if they've got the stupid sword or I'm gonna start blasting rock salt everywhere."

"Yeah." Sam said, and started to follow the direction the shuffling had come from. He wanted to know what was in there with them. The sword would be there or it wouldn't.

Dean had his hand in his jacket, where his gun was, just in case as he circled the shop slowly, looking for anything off. Well, any more off than the display of exhibits they had going on here. "So should we go?" He asked. The hairs on the back of his neck were seriously standing up.

"No." Sam said. "Starting think it's just our imagination, since we haven't had a hunt in so long." His hair was just fine. Laying sedately down his neck as though nothing unusual had happened.

"Sure." Dean said, though he still looked warily around. This whole road trip had his hairs standing up, to tell the truth. "Hey, what do you think about Hooters after this? I'm sure we can find one somewhere, right?"

"Dude, you have an unhealthy fixation with Hooters. It's okay to eat hotwings somewhere else. I promise. I even hear Pizza Hut has hot wings now."

"Pizza Hut? Are you nuts?" Dean said making a face as he went through a couple of exhibits, moving them, looking for false bottoms or anything that looked like it might possibly resemble something that could hold a sword.

"No. I practically lived on it the first year of college." He said and whirled at the sound of flapping wings, half expecting to see a bat or a barn owl dive bombing him... a really big bat.

"That explains why you were so out of shape." Dean said with a chuckle and froze at the sound. "Now that I heard. Again. Either it's a really big ass bird or I don't even really want to know what." He pulled his gun, it was the only protection he had really.

"I was not out of shape." Sam said as he followed the sound deeper into the barn, heedless of what it might be, concentrating only on where it was going. He pressed himself between the narrow passage between two stacks of crates.

"You were out of shape." Dean said. "Sam? Sam, where are you going?" He said. Did his brother have no common sense? This complete dismissal of his own personal safety was beginning to piss Dean off. How could he keep the kid safe if he kept pulling shit like this?

Sam came up short at the back wall, staring up at the apparent skeleton of an angel. The wingspan was enormous. He stepped closer to examine the joint connecting the wing to the spine, climbing up on a crate to examine it closer. The skull had no fusion lines, but a touch revealed it was indeed bone and not resin.

Dean squeezed himself through the crates and found his brother. And the skeleton. "Holy f..." He said. "OW!" Something had smacked him upside the head before he could fully swear. He rubbed the back of his head and looked around. "Okay, Sam? Find the sword? If not, let's get out of here. I'm being assaulted."

"What?" Sam asked, distractedly. "Assaulted by what?" He asked as he peered behind the skeleton, and fell silent as he saw it there. A single solid piece of blackened metal, in the shape of a sword.

Dean was looking around himself, looking for some sign of what had hit him. "I got knocked upside the head." He said."Sam? You with me?" He said as Sam leaned behind the skeleton. "Dude, you're not checking out the angel's ass, are you? OW! That's it! Come on, where are you?"

"Dean... the sword is here." Sam said, "And you know you only get hit when you swear." He pointed out. He really was listening. "But I can't get it. I need your help. "

"So you're not concerned that I'm getting hit by something I can't see?" Dean said and shook his head as he came to the other side of the skeleton. "This is the freakiest thing I've seen. This beats the giant butterfly." He said, looking up at the skeleton as he ducked between the main body and the wings.

"Dude, you haven't said you're fine yet, so chances are... you're fine. So quit whining and grab the sword already." He said, anxious to see if their quest were done.

"Fine. Thanks for the compassion there, brother dear." Dean said with a scowl as he stretched his arm out and grabbed the sword, righting himself and stepping away from the carcass. "This is it?" He said, holding it out to his brother.

"That's the one in my visions, yes." Sam said and reached out to take the sword from Dean, but it slid through his grip to the floor. He frowned and knelt to pick it up, but could barely lift the hilt an inch from the floor before it once more slid from his grasp.

"Dude, if you break it, we'll definitely have to buy it." Dean said and waited for his brother to pick it up. "Sam, come on." He said. "This place is seriously giving me the heebie jeebies." He said, bending and picking up the sword, heading for the door. "I say we get out of here before I get hit again."

"Yeah... let's get out of here." Sam said with a frown. He stared at his brother carrying the sword so easily. He wondered if it had rejected him some how. Perhaps the evil was too deeply engrained in him because of what he was.

Dean walked between the crates. He had to be imagining the fact that he hadn't had to squeeze through them before and walked through the shop, stopping at the counter. "Well, since we're all into larceny now, might as well steal a tablecloth while we're at it. Can't exactly lay this on the backseat after all." He said as he started moving things on the table cloth so he could take the cloth.

Sam nodded and watched his brother deal with the sword. Why was it he couldn't seem to keep his grip on the sword? Was it rejecting him? He hadn't been able to grasp it when it was on the wall, hadn't been able to keep hold of it even when Dean handed it to him.

Dean whistled a Metallica song as he wrapped the sword and looked around the store once more. "All right. Looks like we're good to go." Dean said. "Where did Ash say they were holing up?"

"I'll call and get directions." He said as he started to walk out the door and toward the car. "He gave me a generalized location cause I didn't want specifics until we were ready to head there."

"Well, I think we're ready." Dean said as he put the wrapped sword on the floor of the backseat. He hitched up his left pant leg. "Does this look harmless? This is not harmless." He said, pointing at the quickly turning black and blue large spot on his shin, where the last 'ow' had come from.

Sam started laughing. "Dude, you got kicked in the shins for swearing by a ghost?" He shook his head. "That's great. I love it. Missouri will get a kick out of it too."

"Don't even." Dean said. "I didn't see you defending me back there either, for the record." Dean said with a scowl as he lowered his pantleg and got behind the wheel. "It hurts! I'm gonna kick you in the shins, see how you like it."

That just made Sam laugh even harder. "After all you have been through... This is what you go on about? A bruised shin?"

Dean just grumbled as he put the car in gear. "We need gas, keep your eyes peeled for a gas station, you know, while I sit here and deal with my pain in silence since my own brother has no compassion for me."

"You want me to drive so you can break out the lortab?" He asked trying to rein in the laughter a little. "This from the man who thinks he's fine when he's in traction."

"I WAS fine." Dean reiterated for the millionth time. "Traction was a piece of cake." He shook his head. "Fine, mock me. But you know what? Mickey Mantle nearly lost his leg when he was a teenager. Kicked in the shin with a football cleat, developed a nasty bone infection."

"Dean... you're being a girl." Sam said with no small amount of satisfaction. "I mean really... if I were kicked in the shins, you would be rolling right now."

Dean scowled deeper and reached for his bag of junk food. "I'm not a girl you fluffy haired Sasquatch." He said. "Fine. I'll just soldier on and not care and share."

That got Sam laughing again. "You never share." He said. "And you only complain when it's minor like a boot to the shins or a hang over. Dude, I've got your number."

"Dude, you don't have shit." Dean said with a chuckle. Then again, Sam was laughing even if it was at Dean's expense. He'd been so freaking moody lately, it was good to hear again.

"I've only known you my whole life. I know you... you are fine." Sam said again as he shifted in the seat to get his long legs positioned comfortably.

"Thought you were prelaw? Switched to premed when I wasn't looking?" Dean asked with a laugh. He coughed a bit, the vestiges of his pneumonia hanging on. "Fine, I'll live. No thanks to you. You were way too busy checking out the freaky skeleton than to try to deflect some of the abuse I was undergoing."

"All you had to do was stop swearing." Sam pointed out. "AndI was trying to get to the sword. You know... the whole reason we were there."

"Yeah, yeah." Dean said. "But it was swear worthy. Dude, you think that was a real angel hanging there? In Oklahoma? Or are we in Texas? I lost track. Seems a weird place for angels to be, ain't it?""Probably why it was there." He said. "Protecting the sword or something some how. But yeah... I think it was a real angel. Almost want to go back and bury him.. her... it... but I have a feeling its been taken care of."

"Yeah, well, it definitely is free with kicks and swings." Dean said with a glower. "That completely sucked."

"Dude, if that was all it took to get a weapon that will kill that yellow eyed son of a bitch... it's worth it. Even if it isn't my shins that took the damage."

"Of course you'd say that, it wasn't your shins." Dean said then he laughed. "All right, all right. If we finally get to put that bastard down for good, it was worth it. I'll go with that."

"Good cause, dude, you really need to quit whining so much." Sam teased, grinning at his brother. It felt as though a huge weight were lifted from his shoulders. There was a light at the end of the tunnel.

Dean laughed. 'Yeah, okay. Next time you ask me how I am, I'll just say I'm fine." He said. "So we've got the sword. We've got a settlement...wow, this is really coming together."

"Yeah, it is." Sam said laying his head against the window. "So if you aren't in too much pain to drive there Deanna, I'm gonna get a nap in."

"Fine, Samantha. Have your sweet girlie dreams." Dean said with a chuckle as he popped a tape in.Sam drifted off to sleep, and soon saw himself standing between two men, one with yellow eyes, one with green. The yellow eyed demon faded away into so much yellow mist, and the green eyed bastard laughed as he stepped into the shadows. Around him was desolation. Cities in ruins, people crowded into ghettos. He stepped forward, looking for anything to make sense of the dream... which he was convinced was a vision. It had to be. But every step he took just revealed more of the same.

Dean glaned worriedly at his brother as Sam twitched in his sleep. But his body needed rest, dammit. So, clenching his jaw a bit, he drove on to the destination indicated by Sam. A nice little no name place, it didn't even have a state. It was smack at the corner of four states. Finally, when his brother started to make noise, he shook his shoulder.

"Come on dude, wake up." He said.

Sam woke with a gasp and looked around. "Is this the place?" He asked as he rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. He was still trying to make sense of the dream. None of it made sense. "You know I almost miss the days when visions came with head splitting pain... at least then they made sense."

Dean chuckled at that. "No, we got another few miles. Figured I'd give you time to wake up and wipe the drool off your face." He said. "Another dream? Jessica Alba in this one?"

"Nope, but there were a couple old acquaintances of ours." He said and then described the dream to his brother. "It's just not making any sense to me. "

Dean shook his head. "They never do. So we got the freaking sword and you're still having dreams of an apocalypse? That's what's making no sense to me." He said as they came up on the town. Or rather, the gathering of buildings.

"Well... maybe it's trying to push us into doing something quickly." He said with a sigh. "Or maybe with everything that's happened to my head over the last couple years I'm cracking up."

"So the next time I should let you sleep a little longer in the hopes that a girl eventually shows up?" Dean teased with a chuckle as he parked the Impala next to the Warrior Queen.

"Dude, there is no girl in my future." Sam said. "And if there was it certainly wouldn't be Jessica Alba."

"You're right. I'm much more her type." Dean deadpanned as he got out of the car and stretched. "Should we bring the sword in with us?"

"I don't know if we should leave it out here. Our people are trustworthy but who knows what might follow it to pick it up."

"Good point." Dean said, going into the backseat and retrieved the sword, along with their bags as Bobby came out.

"You look like crap." Bobby said, coming out as they arrived. Dean looked better than he had before, but unlike Sam, Bobby didn't have anything to compare it to. He looked about the same as he had when he had driven off with a barely healed gut wound to tell the truth. At least to Bobby.

"We've both been worse this trip." Sam said as he got out of the car, and stretched. "Please tell me we have comfortable places to sleep set up." He was pretty sure his legs and lower back were twisted like pretzels with no hope of reprieve at this point.

"I can believe it." Bobby said. "Oh, and Joshua York found us. He's one helluva hunter." He'd spring their latest guest on them later, after they rested. Some guy York vouched for, probably found him in a bar. But he was already here, so it was too late to undo any damage. "But let's get you two settled in." He said, reaching for their bags.

"Yeah, Uncle Josh is pretty good." Sam said. "Dad even used to defer to him if that tells you anything.. Of course that could have just been the marine thing. Damn I'm tired. " He said realizing he was rambling.

"Come on, Andy's been working overtime getting this place set up. We got ahold of one of those radiation counters, a geiger unit, this place is nice and clean." Bobby said, leading them into one of the buildings. "We found this place, guess it was going to be an office building or something, we're all sharing four bathrooms, but for the time being that's enough." He said as he led them to offices converted into bedrooms and living quarters.

"Sounds great." Dean said. He wasn't as tired as Sam, or maybe he'd just convinced his body he wasn't. Either way, he'd wander a bit and poke around at what was already done while Sam slept.

"Yeah, works for me at the moment. We can worry about privacy and other things later as we go. Plumbing can't be any harder to do than rebuilding a car thats been totaled by a semi." Sam said with a yawn. He hadn't gotten a good nights sleep since the storms had struck.

"Great. Now I'm on plumbing duty." Dean said with a laugh. "Get some sleep, Sam. I'm gonna have Bobby give me a tour, see what's on the up and up around here. Give Andy some pointers if I need to."

"Okay." Sam said with a smile. "Thanks. Get some rest yourself. You've been pretty sick." He pointed out. Yes Dean had made a quick recovery, but Sam knew how bad he had been.

Dean still didn't feel top notch. And for him to even admit that to himself took something. But he felt like he had things to do, so like normal, he pushed it aside. "Will do." He said. Eventually he would. He actually liked sleeping, so he was looking forward to it. "I'll catch up with you later."

Sam nodded and disappeared into an unclaimed room. "Sick? How sick is pretty sick?" Bobby asked, feeling as though he had stepped into John's shoes in many ways with the boys. Particularly in that being responsible for them department.

"I have a cold." Dean said with a shrug. "Oh hey, we found that mystical magical sword too. In the freakiest shop in America. I was getting kicked and smacked by something unseen, and Sam didn't even care. He cares more about my cold."

Bobby actually laughed at that one. "Cold huh... hmm." He frowned a little. "Might have to find someone to check you out." He said. Sam wasn't the only one that understood Dean speak as far as injuries and illness.

"I'm fine." Dean said in exasperation. "Nyquil, some Tylenol, it was all good. Sam worries over nothing, you know that." He said as they walked. "So where's Josh holing up? Want to know how he tracked us, if its anything that can be duplicated."

"He's down in the kitchen instructing people on how to set up a proper mess hall." Bobby said with a chuckle. He had done his time in the military in his youth. Didn't have any desire to relive any of it. Unlike York and John, it wasn't exactly a pleasant time in his life.

"Wonderful." Dean said with a laugh. "I'm hungry anyway. We didn't see a single good restaurant on the way here." Meaning no Hooters. He'd looked. Even taken some detours. And still no Hooters.

"Really? Andy seemed to like the food around here. Of course he is from this god forsaken neck of the woods. Roughly anyway." Bobby said with a shrug.

"Bobby, in case you haven't noticed...Andy likes to indulge in the cannabis." Dean said with a laugh. "I think he'll eat just about anything because of that. Ash too I think." He said, holding the wrapped sword. Because he didn't know what to do with it. Certainly not let it out of either his or Sam's sight. And right now, Sam was hopefully not seeing much.

"I think those two will eat anything that doesn't threaten to eat them first. But most hunters... if it's cooked and in front of them... will eat it and ask questions later."

"Okay, so you get a point for that one." Dean said with a chuckle as he stretched out his back as they walked. He was tired. But he was good for a bit longer. "So how are they all with their abilities and such?"

"A little better than before. It takes some work to get it under control. Although to be fair most of theones we still have to keep a close eye on... were in that place for months before we got to them. No longer than Sam was there it played hell with the boy. Some of them I don't think will ever be able to leave this place and function in the real world again. But they are coming along nicely."

"We just need them safe in here first." Dean said. "We'll work on everything else later. One step at a time, right?" He said with a tired smile as they made it to the 'mess hall.' a converted storage place really.

Bobby nodded. "Only way to do it." He said.Joshua York stepped away from the frustrated supply clerk and made his way over to Dean and Bobby. "Hey. You two made it back alright I see. Where's Sam? Sleeping?"

"Yeah, he's beat." Dean said. "So, does that poor kid even know he's the new supply sergeant?" Dean teased.

"He spoke up about where things were and how he thought they should be so he got elected." Josh said with a grin. The kid would be in over his head for about a month.

"Dude, that's just wrong." Dean said, full of sympathy for the kid. Dean had been there, he'd been put to work by Josh before. And lived to regret it, and also learned to keep his damn mouth shut! "So did you hear? McKendrick is now his party's nominee for freaking president."

"Yes. I had heard that. It's all over the news." Josh wasn't sure what to think of that. It would be a great boon to this little rag tag group if the president were actually one of them, even if only because he wanted to pull Sam into his political agenda. Of course it could be the end of the world as they knew it if the son of a bitch were on the other side.

Dean shivered a bit. "Ugh. Think my cold is kicking back up again." He said as he went through their ice box for orange juice, finding a can of thawed concentrate. Well, it was better than nothing, right? And supposed to be good for colds he thought. He didn't even bother diluting it, wanting all that Vitamin C as he opened the can carefully. "So how'd you find this place?" He asked. "Thought Ash and Bobby were better than that."

"Had some help actually. A friend I picked up along the way. Mickey. He has visions of his own I guess." Josh said as he leaned against a pillar. "Gave us a distinct advantage in the tracking department."

"Mickey? You picked up a friend named Mickey? And brought him here?" Dean asked. "Did you stop and think that there was a reason this place wasn't supposed to be found?" It was one thing if Joshua had found it on his own accord. But there were too many variables out there that could get everyone in here killed. He ran his hands through his hair, making it stand on end a little higher than usual as he set the wrapped sword down on the counter. "You brought a friend. Great. Where'd you meet this 'friend'?"

"Bout 10 years ago on a hunt." Josh said with chuckle. Dean had his father's habit of assuming no one knew what they were doing everytime he was worried about something.

"This isn't funny!" Dean snapped. "I'm serious. If you think the government in some way or form is not after these kids, you're insane. And senile. Bad enough I picked up a stalker I think we finally lost, while we were looking for this stupid thing. And it wasn't even female to top it off."

"Watch your tone with me, Boy." He said in Who the hell do you think trained the man that trained you?" He pointed out. "Mickey isn't with the government. He isn't possessed. He isn't one of the kids like Sam. "

"Really?" Dean said. "Because he told you so?" He was responsible for every single person in this ramshackled barely formed community. And even Joshua, as much as he respected the man, even he wasn't allowed to endanger that. "Where is he?"

"I've known him for several years." Josh said bluntly. "He's resting. And being watched. You know, if you want I can pack up and go, otherwise you need to start trusting my judgement."

"No offense, really, no offense meant, but I don't know if I can afford to do that." He hadn't stopped since Sam was taken the first time. Every step he took seemed to be uphill, and rocky at that. But he just kept on trudging ahead, because there was no other choice.

"You need to take a step back and breathe." Sgt York said. "I understand you are under a lot of pressure and that Sam's safety is tied up in this makes it even harder. But do you really think for a moment that I would ever endanger Sam? Mickey was having visions and looking for this place before I came across him again. Would you rather I had let him come on his own?"

"What about his safety?" Dean asked. "I've got pyrokinetics, telekinetics, one that can stop a beating heart with a touch, others that absorb radiation...did you stop and think about what they might do if they feel threatened by a stranger?"

"Dean, did you miss that last part? Stop raging and think about what I said for half a minute." He was starting to think Dean was in over his head.

"I didn't miss the last part." Dean said. "He has visions. He's not like Sam. Or the demon. Still doesn't change the fact that I have a dozen women who have been raped by strangers." He sighed and smoothed down his hair. "I'm not raging. So, what? He's like Missouri then?"

"As close as I can figure. The point I was trying to make is he was going to find this place with or without me. Hell, I didn't do anything other than come along for the ride. I figured it might be best to come along, I was thinking. Making the best of the situation I could."

Dean sighed. "Fine." He said. "I just don't like surprises. Because usually they end up with me or Sam needing a hospital." He finished his undiluted concentrated orange juice, one of the grossest things he'd ever drank (and he'd drank a lot of disgusting things), and breathed. Or tried to. Joshua was right, he was stressed out. Sam was more comfortable here, less to watch out for on his end he supposed. In some ways anyway. Dean? Gave him more to watch out for.

"Go get some rest, son. You look as ragged as you did when Sam was recovering. Bobby and Andy have it all covered here. Don't worry so much. When you wake up, I will introduce you to Mickey."

"If he starts singing some Disney song, I'm gonna punch him." Dean said with a chuckle. "Yeah, I'll go sleep." Or try to at least. He picked up his bundle again and went back to the rooms. Checking on Sam, he was sleeping nicely. Finally. He found an unused bed and curled up in it himself, not even bothering to take off his boots.

Joshua made his way back to Mickey's room and rapped at the door, knowing the man within wouldn't be sleeping. He didn't know if he even required sleep really.

"It's open." Mickey called out as he lay on the bed staring at the ceiling, hands clasped behind his head. "Ceilings are interesting. Each little crack has its own story you know."

"Yeah, the scary part of that is that you know those stories." Josh said as he took a seat "Dean isn't going to be an easy sell on this." He said skipping over any preamble.

"Dean isn't going to have a choice." Mickey said, eyes still tracing the light cracks in the plaster above his head. "Well, actually he will, I suppose. He goes along, or everything around him crumbles. Unless I've misjudged him, he won't let that happen to his brother."

"I know he won't." Joshua said. "Just like I knew that he would take care of that faith healer's wife you told me about. He's a good kid. Has a good head on his shoulders when he isn't sleep deprived. There is a lot of his mother in him. But he doesn't have a lot of confidence."

"Funny, how the faith healer's wife wasn't taken care of until after Winchester was healed." Mickey said, sitting up smoothly and swinging his legs over the side of the bed to face Joshua. Mickey had revealed what he knew about that particular faith healer, because he couldn't slay a human, while humans were free to kill each other. Rules were rules after all. Even if over the ages they changed and were tweaked. "Not that I'm complaining. Now anyway."

"Dean didn't see that there was anything off until he was in the process of being healed." Josh pointed out. "I couldn't exactly tell them what was going on. " He grinned a little. "Dean dying would have screwed up your plans pretty majorly, don't you think?"

Mickey laughed. "They're not my plans. You know that. Reverend LeGrange was right about one thing, he was led to choose Dean out of that whole room. So, 'my plans' as you put it, were never in danger. Faith, my friend. Faith."

"Good. Cause right now... if we lose Dean, we lose everything." He said running a hand through his gray hair. "I sincerely hope that one day these boys have some sort of reward awaiting them, because they have already done their time in purgatory."

"And unfortunately they were all just tests." Mickey said. "To forge them for everything they have to do. There will be a reward for them, certainly. There was for their father after all. I dragged that man out of hell myself so he could complete his earthly task."

"For that I am grateful. Gave them some closure as well. Only thing that kept Dean from going off the deep end after his father's first death, I think."

Mickey nodded. "So how do you propose this introduction should go?" He asked. "You know him far better than I. Wingspan and all? He's such a black and white, literal man. Do you think he can understand everything?"

"I would try explaining it all first... and if that doesnt work, bust out the wings. Dont want to over load him." Josh suggested "He is pretty near the breaking point these days. Its been non stop since the feds started after Sam."

"Suppose I should keep this form then." Mickey said as he looked himself over. "Wouldn't want to break his mind after all. Then he's useless. Well, even if we have to drug him, he needs to sleep. Did he drink the orange juice?"

"Yes he did. Didn't even bother to dilute the concentrate." Josh wasn't looking forward to the introduction. Dean was going to automatically assume it's a trap, that Mickey was a demon pulling the wool over their eyes. It wasn't going to be pretty.

"Good." Mickey said. He'd spiked it with a mild sedative. Dean wouldn't wake up with a hang over, but the boy would sleep. He needed rest as much as he denied it. "Then we have a few hours to relax."

"You do. I'm going to go back to talk to Bobby. If they want to keep this place secure and running, they are going to have to give up this illusion of not being paramilitary in nature. "

"Because it's impossible to just be a peaceful settlement?" Mickey asked with an arched eyebrow. "Far be it for me of all people to back away from anything military...but these kids don't seem the type."

"Pacifists get eaten alive." Josh said with a sigh. "The government, the demons, those like them that have chosen the other side. They have so many people and things hunting them that they need to be prepared to defend themselves."

"Sure." Mickey said. "March right in there sergeant, and tell them PT is at 0500. Chow at 0700. Maybe showers at 2100. And if Andy and Ash can fit that in, inbetween drinking and smoking weed, they might even show up." Though he hated the term devil's advocate, that's what he was doing. Making sure Joshua thought out all the counter arguments before proposing the idea.

"I don't expect them to become Marines." He said with a chuckle. About the only one out of the bunch of them that stood a chance of that was Dean. Bobby had been in the army for too long and was ruined as far as the marines were concerned. "Just pick up a little discipline along the way. A few safety regimens."

"Safety?" Mickey said. "So the plan is to teach all the psychic kids with their wonderous powers to shoot a pistol?" He chuckled. "Think outside the box, Joshua. They don't need safety regimens, they can self monitor that. Discipline, most likely. But you're also the new kid on the block.""We'll see." He said. "This all feels exposed. I know they have their own powers and weapons but that they should at least be keeping watch or something. And who is to say the demon doesn't have a means of short circuiting those powers?"

"Or short circuit a gun." Mickey pointed out. "It's conceivable that he can short circuit most anything. Which is why we have the sword, remember?"

"Not saying they need to carry guns." Josh said rolling his eyes. "Must be getting old. Can't even explain my position to you of all people."

"You want to run a campaign like you would were you still in Viet Nam." Mickey said. "This isn't Viet Nam, they aren't the Viet Cong, this can't be fought with mortal warfare, even if they're mortal combatants."

"And that is just the sort of weakness the demons will slip through. We have to cover all bases. Not saying we need perimeter checks or patrols... just a good deal more security."

"Good luck with that." Mickey said. Under the demon's control, they might have become an army. Once free will and all that good stuff was stripped from them. Now? With everything still intact, including a good amount of fear, they weren't in an army or marine mood.

"Yeah I know. But something has to be done by some one to keep up the security level. Besides... some of these people I am pretty sure need to have some sort of schedule enforced. It has been proven to help people with shell shock or ptsd to handle daily life until they get their feet under them. A lot of them haven't managed to find their feet yet much less get them under them."

Mickey laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. "I wish you luck, my friend. I only have one purpose here, remember?"

"You are gonna need more luck than I do, old friend. A lot more luck." Josh said and rose to walk toward the door. Dean was going to be a lot harder to get through to than Mickey realized.

"Luck is for humans." Mickey said, the shadow him against the wall showing far more than what the naked human eye could see.

"Well then you might just find yourself in deeper than you thought, because that whole free will thing... Dean has more than his fair share. He is a winchester... they dont come any other way."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N sorry for the delay in posting. I hope everyone is still enjoying the story and thank you so much for the reviews! 

Dean woke up, feeling like he'd drunk all night, instead of slept. Still in the same position he was in when he laid down, which did nothing for sore and battered joints. Stiffness set in more quickly since New Orleans, and the traction, the surgeries, everything else that New Orleans had been the cause of. 

But like usual, Dean just denied it. He stood up and shook himself out. Cracked as many joints as he could and changed his clothes. He'd been in those clothes for far too long. Running his hands over his face to wake up, scrubbing at his eyes, he could feel the three day beard growth, but ignored it. He was good for a bit. Ran his hands over his hair to get it to lay as flat as it was going to, which wasn't very, and made sure he had a gun on him. Because one never knew. Especially with some new people around, no matter what Joshua said, Dean still wasn't sure on him. 

Course he hadn't met him either, but it never hurt to be prepared. A vial of holy water in his pocket and he was good as he exited his room. Sammy was still sleeping, and Dean quietly adjusted the blankets tangled around the younger man before departing, squinting and wincing as he was assaulted by sunlight. What time was it anyway? 

"Dude, was starting to think you were gonna sleep the day away." Andy said as he rounded the corner and saw Dean. "You two were looking pretty ragged when you got here though, so I left Sam alone and all." 

"Thanks." Dean said with a nod. "Sam needs the rest." He said, knowing Sam hadn't slept much, if at all, when Dean had had his 'cold.' "Well, driving all day and all night will make someone all ragged." He said with a chuckle. "So how's things going here?" He asked, looking around, wishing he had had the foresight to get his sunglasses out of the car before turning in. 

"Not too bad. A lot of work, a lot of adjusting. A lot of scared and traumatized people that my ability doesn't work on so I can't help them." He said with a sigh. "So... You guys are here... That mean you found it?" 

"Yeah we did." He said then groaned. "And I left it on the bed. Be right back." He said, loath to keep it out of his sight for long, not after what they went through on the quest to get the damn thing. He went back into his room and grabbed it, still wrapped in the table cloth. "Found it in the weirdest place, great mock up of an angel skeleton. Sam was so blown away by it, he forgot to grab the thing." 

"You sure he's doing okay?" Andy asked, that didn't sound like Sam to him at all. "You don't think there's any lasting effects from the thing in his neck do you? He didn't sound good when I talked to him last." 

"He's fine. From that." Dean said. But that was all he could say. Everything else? Sam probably remembered more than he let on. And Dean couldn't do anything about that, no matter how hard he tried. Other than making sure everything else went nice and easy, including this settlement. Sam was the leader, but Dean was the bulldozer, clearing the way. "So'd you meet the new guy?" 

"Yeah. He's different. Doesn't think he's one of us but my ability doesn't work on him so he probably is and is in denial. He's okay though. Not a bad guy over all, keeps to himself though except for the Josh guy... Who likes to take over. Sam is gonna have to make it plain he's the boss around here." 

Dean sighed. "I'll handle Josh." He said, shaking his head. He figured as much. Part of the reason he hadn't told Josh just where they all were. Because this was Sam's gig. They weren't going to all fall in line like Marines, and trusting someone wasn't high on their to do list. "Okay, show me where the food is, and then tell me about Zoe." 

Andy blushed. "We ahm.. Moved in together. I know sounds crazy, since we are all so close on top of each other but you know... made it all official and everything." 

"Well, well." Dean said with a laugh. "Come on, where's the swaggering Andy that had women throwing themselves into his van I knew way back when?" He teased.

"It's different, when it means something." Andy said honestly. "Very different. It's scary as hell." Andy had never been swaggering, and had never had women throwing themselves into his van, but he had never been lonely either. Never had to use his ability. He had more of a fluffy puppy draw than even Sam. Women wanted to save him from his life style. Probably why he never took any of them seriously before. Andy didn't need or want saving. 

"Well, good for you." Dean said, with honest congratulations. "She's a nice girl." Seemed skittish on the surface, but she did make it through that overtaking of the lab in Washington. Willingly went too. Guess that's what they meant by still waters ran deep. "About time we had some good news around here, right?" 

"I don't know, you finding that sword and one of us winding up headed to the White House... that's some pretty good news all around." Andy said as he led the way to the cafeteria.

Dean shrugged. He wasn't sure McKendrick was REALLY like Sam and Andy, or something else entirely. And he wasn't sure that was such good news right now. "I try to stay out of politics. Kinda boring." Was all he said. 

"I hear ya there. Just kinda hoping he could find a way to call off the goon squad so we aren't hunted by the government as well as the others and demons." Andy said with a shrug. "If not... well... at least we have a good place to hole up." 

"And since you're off the market, I'll have to handle all the interns myself. Tough job, but someone's gotta step up and fulfill their civic duty." Dean said with a laugh as he grabbed some food. Never really a picky eater, he was famished this morning. "I see Josh has taken over the food." It looked like what his dad had described in boot camp, honestly. 

"Yeah. it's not as tasty as what we would have done on our own but to be honest it stretches further this way, and right now, that's an important plus. It's not bad... just... well... cafeteria food." 

"Hey, it's food." Dean said with a chuckle as he loaded his plate. "I've been eating M&Ms, and chasing it down with Nyquil for the past few days, trust me, this is a feast." After filling his feast, he found a table. At least they weren't the long tables in messhalls or school cafeterias. Just a collection of smaller round tables, some of them even card tables, that had been found along the way. 

"Yeah, you still look a little green. You sure that was a cold?" Andy asked.

"No." Mickey said as he approached the table. It was time, there was no more sense in delaying. No sense in putting off the inevitable. "It was pneumonia. " 

Dean's eyes shot from his food to the man approaching the table. "Son of a bitch!" He said. And truly he was intending to chew the guy out, demand some answers, maybe get in a fight. One of the three, or a combination of them. Knowing Dean, all three. 

Instead he collapsed to his knees, grabbing his head. Though he didn't know he was kneeling on the ground. He thought he was still standing as he spun around, the make shift cafeteria filling with red fog, or was it smoke? He couldn't see anything in front of him as he spun, grabbing the sword. He'd been in fog thick enough to cut, but this was ridiculous. And after everything, he wasn't going to be ambushed in a weird ass freaky fog. He didn't have a gun, or his knife on him, so the sword would do. 

Except it wasn't the aged gray metal it had been when he wrapped it, turning into the most magnificient and glowing of swords, as its very presence, unsheathed from the common table cloth, split the fog as a figure approached, he couldn't make it out. Couldn't tell if it was male or female, just that he was awed. And Dean was not a man easily awed. The figure nodded, the red fog fading into splendorous golden light. 

Next thing he knew, Andy was shaking him hard. "Dean! Dean! Oh god, someone get Sam or something!" 

"Dude, I'm fine, get off me." Dean said. "Shit, my head." 

"It'll pass." Mickey said as he knelt slowly beside Dean. "The sword was meant for you." He told him. "Not your brother. No one but you can wield it. " 

"Who ARE you?" Dean asked as he got to his feet. And sat down in a chair. Until his head stopped throbbing that was as much as he could do right now. What the hell happened? Did he have a vision? Is this what Sam went through every single time? 

"Michael." He stated simply. "But I like Mickey. That's what people that know me these days call me. When the throbbing stops, come walk with me." 

Dean stared at him. "You're following me and my brother. Why should I go off with a walk with you? You could be some kind of pervert. Or FBI. Or both." He said with narrowed eyes. Oh, Joshua had some explaining to do. 

"Following you?" He asked with a smirk. "You always showed up where I already was. Not sure how that counts as me following you." He had expected that part. Amused him really. But he wasn't about to out wings in front of the people there in the cafeteria. 

Dean rubbed his head and reached for the coffee. "It does, somehow." Dean said. He'd figure out the hows and whys. "How do you know about the sword?" No one was supposed to know. "You knew where it was, didn't you?" 

"I've always known where it was." He said. "And if you want to find out more, come talk to me outside." Mickey said and turned on his heel to head toward the exit. He knew that eventually Dean would want answers. Even if it meant speaking to him privately. 

Dean watched him go, grabbed the sword and refilled his coffee. "Andy, if I'm not back in twenty minutes, get Josh, get Ash, get Sam, and come get me. Charge in the like the hero, impress the girl, whole cliche." He said as he took a deep breath and followed Mickey outside. "Fine, I'm outside." He said, wariness in every inch of his posture. 

"You aren't going to believe a word I say unless I show you... so hold on to your hat... try not to pass out will ya." He said and slowly revealed his true nature. Standing before Dean Winchester was Michael the Archangel, complete with wings and flaming sword. 

His wingspan was enormous. Bigger than even the 'angel' corpse they had found in that shop. And it was all Dean could focus on. For the life of him, he couldn't find the man's face. Or even tell if it was still a 'male' at all. Wings, flaming hair, flowing hair, that he could see. Face? Nope. He looked down at the sword in his hand. "Holy shit." He muttered. "No pun intended. Okay..um...wow...okay, so...I get it. I think." 

Michael returned to his favorite human form. That of Mickey. "I'm here to train you to use the sword. I'm not allowed to do much more than that. Breaks the rules of engagement in a really big way, which would let the other side get away with more. So don't even ask, if I say I can't... I can't. Not won't. Can't." 

Dean shook his head. "Wow. Okay." He said. "You know, this is a lot to take in, and I got a lot of stuff to sort through." Like if angels really did exist, where were they that night? Were they watching like his mother said, and just stood idly by?

"I'd have to wonder about you if it wasn't." Mickey said. "I can answer most of your questions. Some of them I am sure you won't like the answers to, so be sure you really want to know the answer before you ask." 

"Okay." Dean said. "Why not Sam? This whole thing is his gig. I'm just the bulldozer. You'll never find a greater man than Sam, he should do it." 

"Because Sam is tainted." Mickey said and lifted his hand. "Not anything he can control, or through any action of his own. All those like him... are tainted. It's how the Demon goes about it. He is a good man... but he isn't able to so much as lift the sword." 

Dean suddenly felt so heavy. He had a lot of questions. And a lot of pressure too. "Do...angels...really just sit up there on some cloud and watch?" He asked. "Just...watch. Maybe grab some popcorn, a beer?" 

"We all have different jobs. Different things we do to aid the Almighty, and humanity as He sees fit. Something we can never do... is interfere with free will, or the consequences of free will. It goes against His plan. It's not entertaining to us. Usually it's heart breaking or enraging." 

And Dean was suddenly angry with it all. "So let me get this straight. You guys sat by and watched my mother get killed. Sat there and watched whatever it did to my brother. Watched as my father died...twice. Watched as Sam and I were possessed by your former best friends and beat the holy hell out of each other, and trashed a city on top of that. Watched as Sam was kidnapped and tortured by the government. And now you're going to watch while I take this fucking sword and fight a battle that I didn't fucking start? And you guys are the good guys?" 

"Actually I went down into hell and pulled your father out, which by the way was not as easy as it might sound, especially considering he was there by his own free will. As for the rest, yes, we're the good guys. You humans... you kill me... you don't want to be told no don't do that. Don't break the rules, but you still want us to come swooping down with wings flapping and swords blazing to save you from yourselves and each other." He shook his head. "Good isn't defined by nice. It isn't defined by helpful or how often we save your bacon, which is a lot more than you will ever know." 

Dean shook his head. "If I have my theology right, this," he said, lifting the sword up, "is for a war that humanity didn't start. So I'm finishing your battle while you hide behind rules." Everything his family had gone through, everything Sam had gone through, everything he had gone through...fine, free will whatever. But he and Sam didn't freely and willfully ask a demon to hunt them, or torture their father. 

"Never said it was fair. That's not a concept that matters a hill of beans in the grand scheme of things. You can stand there and yell at me over a war that I didn't start either, or you can suck it up and prove that you are worthy to carry the thing. Humanity didn't start the war but they have gone a long way toward furthering it with your cults and your summonings, and your dabbling in things you shouldn't." 

"Is my father at peace?" Dean asked instead. It was important to him. John had gone to hell for him. Literally, and willingly. And crawled out when his sons needed him. If there was anyone in the whole history of man who deserved rest, it was John Winchester. 

"Yes, he and your mother both." He answered honestly. They had earned it. Mary when she had saved her sons from the spirit in that house, and John for all that he had done to further the fight against the darkness. "Hell was never supposed to be his fate. He only went out of choice. That's why I was able to bring him back...it was, in his case, a selfless act. It gave him the chance to redeem himself." 

"Good." Dean said. "Okay, so you're a freaking angel. So that thing in the shop was an angel too? Still haunting the place as well?" He was still bruised from that little encounter. 

"Haunting? No. But I wasn't about to let you disrespect him in his final duty. That was my friend, my brother. You wouldn't be so willing to let someone disrespect Sam's remains either, I am sure." 

"That was you?" Dean asked, shaking his head. "You went over board, dude. It's impossible to knock sense into me. Okay, so why me? Cause if there's a commandment I haven't broken, I'd love to see it." Possibly Honor Thy Father and Mother, but that was about it. He lied, cheated, stole, killed, cursed and everything else. Used relics from other religions and faiths with ease. 

"Because it's supposed to be you." Mickey said. "It's as simple as that. If you had crossed too far into the realm of darkness, you wouldn't be able to touch the sword and then the human race would be beyond screwed. Besides... warriors aren't sweet and innocent. Do you really think angels are cherubs? Raphael was a little nutty on the babies with wings and loose fitting diapers." 

Dean blanched at that. "Excuse me? I'm responsible for the non screwing of the whole human race?" Oh, that wasn't pressure at all. And he thought his father put pressure on him. "Think you got the wrong guy." 

"You're responsible for killing one demon. Yeah, if you don't kill that demon the human race is nothing but demon fodder. I think you can handle one demon. Especially that particular demon." 

Dean shook his head. "Great." He said. "Which one? The one I'm hunting or the one that's hunting me? Can I take them both out? I haven't had a good night's sleep in a long time, and this will go a long way toward that." 

"Azazel is the one that you are destined to destroy. Tamiel... well... no one is going to complain if you are an over achiever." Mickey said with a shrug. "The more you take out now, the fewer I have to fight in the end. " 

"Is this why I managed to be possessed and not tainted or whatever word you used? And is this why I was possessed in the first place?" Dean demanded. "You ever been possessed? Ever been trapped inside your skull as your body wreaks havoc on a city, hurting or killing who knows how many innocent bystanders? And this constitutes free will?" 

"At the age of 18, you could have walked away. Even if you wanted to stay and keep your brother safe for another 4 years, you could have left this life then. You chose to stay in the fight. So yes... it's the consequences of free will. You don't leap off a cliff and complain half way down because God doesn't save you. Which by the way... he sent me to do back there. When you leapt from the rooftops. He sent me to give you the weapon to finish the fight. So man up, and quit whining about how unfair it all is. War isn't about what's fair. " 

"Couldn't come in a gun, or a cross bow, or even a knife, something I know how to use, right?" Dean said, shaking his head. "Fine. Teach me how to use this thing, because right now, I'm pretty much blaming everything on those demons, and I'd love to take it out on them." 

"It's that whole as above so below rule. I didn't set up the universe. I just live in it. So, let's go over there. In those trees. Don't want to draw a crowd just yet. It's distracting and you don't need the distraction." 

"I like crowds." He said with a grin. He could satisfy his inner ham then. But he nodded and went into the trees. "Wait, I have to tell Andy. Told him twenty minutes or he was to bring out the calvary." 

Mickey nodded. "I'll meet you over there in the trees." He said, hoping that Dean was ready for what was to come. This wasn't going to be easy, a crash course in using a sword against a former archangel. 

Dean went and told Andy. Well, not everything. Just that the guy wasn't going to kill him. He hoped. and went back into the patch of trees and looked at the sword. "Doesn't look like much, you know that, right?" Dean said. "It was much cooler in my little whacked out acid trip I had in the cafeteria." 

"Very little is what it appears to be on the outside. Besides, if it looked like a great flaming earthly equivalent of an angelic blade, do you think it could be hidden away to wait for the right man to come and find it?" He asked as he drew his own sword seemingly from nowhere. 

"Good point." Dean said. "I did send Andy out for Braveheart and 300 though. Even if it's not really good research, they're awesome films. So, what? Do I just swing at you and watch you disarm me embarassingly easily?" 

"Only if you want to re-enact painful scenes from Highlander." He said with a chuckle. "You hold it like this, not this." He said, starting Dean with the basics. showing him a proper grip, a proper stance. "Never swing while up on the balls of your feet, sucks the power out of the blow and can throw you off balance." 

It was hours later when they emerged from the woods. Dean was soaked with sweat, pants all grass and dirt stained, and sore as all hell. Mickey? He looked fine. Like he had taken a simple walk, really. 

"This place better have hot running water." Dean muttered, rubbing out a kink in his shoulder. "So I'm the only one that can pick this thing up?" He asked about the sword, which felt a lot heavier now than it had hours before. 

"That's right. Keeps it out of the the wrong hands." He said with a shrug. "Trust me, you don't want something like that in the hands of evil." Mickey said. "Get a shower and get some rest. We'll start again in the morning." 

"So I don't have to carry this around all the time? That was my real question." Dean asked. He was a man who concentrated on immediate concerns. And having to carry a sword around all the time, in this compound, would be trouble waiting to happen. 

"No you don't have to carry it around all the time, it can't be stolen." He said. "You'll know when it's time to carry it into battle."

"Good to know." Dean said. "See you in the morning." He said and went straight away to find Sam. He sat down across from Sam. "Remember when I said I don't believe in angels?" 

"Yeah... I remember. You were right." Sam said, remembering how disillusioned he had been when the reality of the situation had come to light, just as his brother had said it would. 

"No, actually I was pretty wrong." Dean said. "And angels...they're pretty fucking scary." He said as he stole some of Sam's food. "Really really scary." 

"Okay... spill... cause right now... with what you have just said, I am starting to think that your fever has come back." Sam said looking at Dean worriedly. 

"I feel great." Dean said. "Considering. No, I'm serious, dude. Okay, that hotel manager? Not a manager. Same guy I stood next to in Arby's, and, well, he was the one smacking me around in the curiosity shop. Cause, he's not human. I've seen him, Sam. And he ain't no baby in diapers playing a harp." 

"You... got better after he came and touched you..." Sam said quietly. "He's here? There is an actual honest to God angel around here?" Sam wasn't sure how to take that. Before he had been desperately hoping for a means of redemption, a means of fighting the taint that ran through his veins. But now, he had just accepted that God had abandoned him the day the demon had claimed him and he was on his own in the world. Dean being the only living being he could truly count on. 

"Oh yeah." Dean said. "Like the archangel kind of angel. In fact, Michael of all archangels. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed actually." With everything else that had been said and pointed out and laid on him. "But don't feel bad about the sword. Apparently I'm the only one that can lift the thing." 

Sam actually looked relieved. It was one weight off of his shoulders. "Dude, you are so better suited to that than I am. But, are you okay with that? " He didn't even want to touch the fact that it was Michael. At least his visions weren't the psychotic ramblings of a man in too many time zones at once. 

Dean shook his head and ran a hand over his face. "Dude? Better suited? I can't do this." Dean said. He didn't think he was better suited at all. If he had to pick someone to do this, what he was asked and told to do, he'd be the last person he'd pick. 

"If you couldn't do it... they wouldn't have picked you. I doubt they want anyone to fail in this fight. Besides... what makes you think you can't do it?" 

"Sam." Dean said, surprised that Sam didn't get it. "I'm a screw up. I've had one major job all my life, watch out for my pain in the ass little brother, and I've managed to screw that one up at every turn." Possessed, kidnapped, tortured, not to mention the times Sam would just take off! "Now I'm supposed to save humanity?" 

"Dude, you rescued me more times than I can count. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be alive right now. Most of the people here would still be in that installation. You can't help that bad things happen. That isn't in your power to prevent, but when it does, you always come through. That's what makes you a hero. " 

"You think so?" Dean asked, unconvinced. "I don't know, this whole thing seems right up your alley, not mine. I kinda like being the mouthy anti-hero." He teased. 

"Yeah well you can be the mouthy anti-hero that wields a sword and saves the day." Sam said. "That's about as close to a compromise as you are going to get." 

Dean sighed. "This sucks. It does. And this archangel guy, worse drill sergeant than Joshua could ever hope to be. He makes Josh look like Mary Poppins." 

"I don't know... Mary Poppins was pretty hard core in her own way." He said with a grin. "Sounds like you are gonna be busy for a while. I wonder if Andy located a hot tub in this place or if we should just go straight for the hydrotherapy tub." 

Dean gave his brother a look. "Are you suggesting I get in a hot tub with my brother?" He asked. "Think I'll pass. Maybe we should go to town or something. Find a nice dark pool hall, hot girls...bet I could find one that could work out the kinks."

"Dude, in no way was suggesting we both get in at the same time but yeah, I think we could both use a few beers." Sam agreed. "I'll let Andy know we're taking off. " 

"Sounds good, I'm gonna go shower." Dean said and headed to where one of the three working bathrooms were. And someone was using it. So he went to the second one. Again, occupied. When he got to the third one, and someone was in it, he banged on the door. "C'mon!" He called in. "Other people have to shit, shower and shave too!"

"Yeah yeah yeah, hold your horses." Came the voice from within.

"I see you were spared the dorm room experience too." Andy said as he was passing by "We're working on getting more. Just gotta be patient for now." He said and continued on by. 

"It's not my horses I'm worried about." Dean said. "I thought a motel room, sharing a bathroom with Sam and his hair was bad." Dean commented to Andy. "Oh, hey, Andy. Sam and I are heading out. Hopefully to have a little fun." 

"Good luck with that." Andy called over his shoulder as the bathroom occupant stepped out wrapped in a towel.

"It's all yours, man." 

"Thanks." Dean said. And stepped into the shower. Miraculously, there was hot water left, as he scrubbed the grime, sweat and dirt from his work out off. Letting the steam open his lungs up until he coughed and the streaming hot water massage the sore, tired and hurting muscles and bones. He couldn't wait to see what shape he was in at fifty. If he got to fifty. Right now, he was hoping to make it to thirty. He got out, and changed into clean clothes, meeting Sam. "Ran into Andy. He wishes us luck." 

"Yeah. I saw him afterward. Take some ibuprophen before we go. You look like you still hurt." Sam said as they headed out to the Impala. "How's your cold doing?" 

"Dude, my cold is fine. Nearly gone." Dean said, scowling. Or at least enough that he could fake through it. He didn't respond to the pain question. Most hunters were in pain after a few years of doing it. He'd been doing it for nearly twenty years! Pain was expected, right? "Why do you always comment on my pain? I thrashed you pretty good in New Orleans too you know." 

"Yeah... but I wasn't the one in traction." Sam pointed out. "So apparently I kicked your ass. And you haven't been continuing physical therapy since we started running for our lives. So yeah...I worry about you being in pain." 

"Dude, like I need physical therapy. What are they going to do? Make me walk from one side to the other? Maybe manipulate my joints till they crack? I get enough exercise, thanks. And if I need my body manipulated, well, that's why we're going to the bar, right?" He asked with a smirk. 

"Entirely different kind of manipulation." Sam said with a chuckle. "And I don't think it's your body that needs manipulation. I think you need to go and make yourself feel unworthy or something." 

"Dude, you took too many psych courses in college." Dean said with a scowl. "Make myself feel unworthy. By getting drunk off my ass, scamming some poor sucker at pool, and hopefully leaving with the hottest girl there? That makes me the cock of the walk." 

"So you don't think any of those habits makes you less... I don't know...holy or something?" Sam teased. It didn't. It wasn't about being holy or wholesome boy next door. Sam knew that. It was about being a hero, about being able to see the job done. About kicking ass. It was about being everything that Dean was. 

"Dude, if they're looking for someone holy and wholesome and squeaky clean, they've so got the wrong person." Dean said with a laugh. "And what are the chances of me being right and God being wrong? I mean, really?" 

Sam laughed. "Now you are getting it." He said. "Let's face it.. wholesome, holy and squeaky clean isn't going to get neck deep in demon guts when the time comes." 

"Not saying I won't screw this up, because I am fully capable of screwing this up royally." Dean said, in a far more good natured tone than he honestly felt. "But right now, I'll go with it. Too bad it's not a line that will get me laid. Dude, I can't even use my so called God given and appointed power thingie for good!"

"Getting laid isn't for the greater good, Dean." Sam said, laughing. "It might be in the world's best interest to keep you happy, mellow and relaxed; but it's still not for the greater good." 

"Well, it's for MY greater good." Dean said with a smirk. At least Sam had honestly laughed. It had been a while since that had happened, even if was at Dean's expense, it was a good thing. 

"Yeah, I'm sure it is. Between traction and looking after me, you haven't been in circulation as much as you would like, I'm sure. You do realize I'm over 21, right? It's okay to look the other direction for a while and have some fun." 

Dean lifted an eyebrow, but didn't respond to that. He was still the big brother, it didn't matter how old Sammy was. It was always his job to look after him, look out for him, and when the occasion called for it, track his ass down. 

"You up to playing designated driver?" He asked instead. 

"But if you go home with some girl, you are gonna have to call me to come get you cause I am not gonna follow you around all night like a stalker." He said with a laugh. 

Dean rolled his eyes. "Fine." He said. "And no sex in the car. I'm serious. I don't even have sex in the car." He pointed out. He didn't either. That would be letting a one night stand too close to his baby, and that just didn't sit right with him! 

"Dude, I am not going to pick up some girl in a bar. Your precious is safe. I promise." He said with a laugh.

"Oh, so now she's gone from possessed to something evil out of a book. Nice." Dean said. "If she doesn't start for you, I don't want to hear it." 

"If it's not possessed then how does she take offense at things I say?" Sam pointed out. "After all... if she is just a car... a classic yes," he said raising his hands in surrender at the look he recieved from his brother, "where do the personality quirks come from?" 

"Just a car." Dean muttered, shaking his head. "Dude, you have no respect for awesome craftmanship." He said. "This car is older than both of us, and she runs better than both of us. Of course she's got feelings and quirks, she's from back in the day when making a car meant something." He went on to list his car's virtues, quite seriously too. 

"Dude, don't you think it's a bit odd to think that an engine, surrounded by metal on 4 rubber tires has feelings and quirks? I mean she's a great car... don't get me wrong but.. Dean... she's a car." 

"No, I don't." Dean said with a shrug. "With everything else we've dealt with, magical trees that demand sacrifices, houses with a will of their own, elemental spirits...it's not so odd." 

"Yeah but those things are usually not on the list of good things to be around." Sam pointed out. "So... here's hoping you're just nuts and it's just a car." He teased. 

"Just a car. There you go again." Dean said, shaking his head. "Don't worry, baby, he's just misguided." Dean said, running a hand over the dashboard as he pulled up to a bar. 

"Dude, get a room." Sam said as he got out of the car. "That's seriously wrong." He teased and made his way to the bar entrance. 

Dean laughed as he got out of the car. "Like I said, misguided." Dean said as they went into the bar and ordered a couple of beers. "Now this...this is normal." He said, referring back to Sam's idea that they never did anything normal. 

"Don't say that too loud, you'll jinx it." Sam pointed out. How many times had they started out to do something normal and had it blow up into something so completely not normal that they were left wondering if it was real or drug induced delusions? 

"Dude, relax, it's not like we're at Hooters." He said with a laugh and nearly spit out his beer when Mickey walked in. "See! Told you he was stalking us!" 

"That's him?" Sam asked, wide eyed. "Dean, that's the hotel manager that told me you had pneumonia and did that whole laying on of hands thing." 

"Dude! You let some strange guy feel me up while I was unconscious with fever?!" Dean asked, smacking Sam's shoulder. "That is so freaking wrong." 

"He didn't feel you up." Sam said with a laugh. "I was watching. And you started to get better after that so don't complain too much. " He shook his head. "You know... that's not the image I had in my mind of ...well.. you know." 

"I thought he'd be wearing a diaper, but that's just me." Dean said with a shrug. No matter what Father Reynolds had said, that was the image that stuck in his head, probably his way of discounting them a bit. "What did you think he'd look like?" Besides, Dean knew it was a shell anyway. He'd seen the real form, as much as he could. 

"I don't know... guess I was thinking something more like a ... gentler looking Vin Diesel or something. I mean this is the guy that took on Lucifer and won. He looks like someone from a romantic comedy or something." 

"I'm usually too busy to skulk around a gym to impress my fans." Mickey said with an arched eyebrow as he signaled for a beer. "Besides, I could hardly blend if I looked like a gym freak." 

"There is that I suppose." Sam said. "So ahm... question... why did you give me the visions instead of Dean? I almost thought it was just another hallucination or time warp thing when I got the first one." 

"Does he always question everything?" Mickey asked Dean. 

"From the moment he could talk." Dean said cheerfully. Which was true. 

"Because you were in the right state of mind for the vision." Mickey said with a shrug. "And Dean would have just thought he had finally drank too much." 

"How am I supposed to get answers if I don't ask questions?" Sam pointed out. "And believe me, there is still a lot of missing answers." He didn't know that he wanted to get into it right then. He wanted answers but also didn't necessarily want to ask the questions with Dean sitting right there. He didn't want Dean to worry about things that couldn't be helped or changed. 

"This place, Earth, is supposed to be a neutral ground. Where you all earn your passage to heaven or hell, depending on your behavior. For eons we were allowed to nudge. To guide. Whispers in the ear, opportunities presented." Mickey said as he drank his beer. "Then, a certain hot headed fallen angel got ambitious. I bet Luce isn't happy with him, but that's another discussion. He started to interfere. Direct possessions. Nephalim. Direct coercion and changing of regular humans. That meant my side could get a little more into the action. But we had to wait for the time. It seems like an eternity to you, twenty odd years, but it's nothing more than a blink to us. Now's the time. Unfortunately they're amping up their game too, therein lies the problem. Now, anymore questions?" 

"Only things you may not know the answers to." Sam said. "Like why is he so focused on me... If Dean is the one meant to weild the sword I get it that the other one is focused on Dean but with all the ones like me out there... why me?" 

"Because of your father." Mickey said. "I wonder how the wings are in this place." 

"You eat wings?" Dean asked. 

"I'm not a chicken." Mickey said. "And I like them hot. Anyway, your father trained you. Extremely well. Everything he would have to teach someone else, is second nature to you. It's like two sides in a war. If you want to kidnap and turn someone, do you go after the guy stuck on KP duty, or do you go right to a captain?" 

"Great. Poor Dad, and all this time he thought he was doing this to keep us safe. Little did he know." Sam said with a sigh. "Guess the demon didn't figure on the Winchester hard head." 

"He did keep you safe." Mickey said. "Because of that training. And the Winchesters definitely have hard heads, John's I think might be the hardest. But that's why he wants you. To lead an army. Made up of kids like yourself, and demons. His warriors, chaos bringers, destroyers...oh look, they do have wings." 

Sam sighed. "Well he isn't going to get his leader and he isn't going to get any of my people for his army." Sam said firmly. He wouldn't let that happen. They had been through too much already at the hands of the military. 

"Okay, but how does he pick these kids?" Dean asked. Know your enemy. That was one lesson their father had taught them. Know everything you can before you approach. 

"Most are picked randomly." Mickey said as he ordered the wings. "With extra hot sauce." He said. "Random, whenever he gets his mind to it, mostly." 

Sam placed his order, which included another beer. He was designated driver but there was a long time before he had to be the one driving. "Randomly." Sam grumbled. "Oh hey there's a baby, let's murder his mom and mess with his entire family. Cause that's the one I happen to see at the moment." The whole random thing pissed him off. It was random that his mother died. Random... Random. 

"It was also random that your mother happened to walk into the room while he was there. That's why she's dead. Not all of the mothers were killed. He doesn't like to be interfered with." Mickey said with a shrug. 

Dean's foot tapped. "You know what, I'm going to go hustle up a game of pool." Talking about his mother made him squirm, and dammit he was here to have fun. 

Mickey watched Dean leave. "Good. He's gone. You're the one that wants answers. Why you specifically? Because of him." He said, pointing at Dean's figure, which was headed toward the billards. 

Sam frowned. "Because Dean is the one chosen for the final battle with him... having me in his power would weaken Dean some how... actually would just piss him off more but I guess it doesn't seem obvious when looking at a 4 year old." 

"Not quite." Mickey said as his wings came. "You were going to stand in for Azael." He said, letting that hit home. 

"He was going to possess me." Sam said, thinking he understood. "And leave at the last moment." He could easily see it now. The reason the Demon had always been careful to leave him alive no matter what. "Seriously thinking I need to go get a tattoo." 

Mickey shook his head as he kept an eye on Dean. "Not quite. Again. You weren't going to be possessed." He said. Humans always did need things spelled out to them. He was still amazed that it had to be written in stone (literally) that killing each other was bad. 

"He was going to turn me that far?" Sam's head started to hurt at the thought of it, then he frowned. "Like Allen... not exactly possessed but not entirely human anymore either. " 

"Now you're getting it." Mickey said. "The way you were raised, the bond you two share, your training, it's helped you resist it. Had you not been able to, those same reasons would have killed your brother." 

Sam nodded. None of this was fair. Not one bit. "Is it really going to be over? Or is the son of a bitch going to come back again?" 

"An exorcism is just a banishment. Buys you time. Most of your lower demons, they might not crawl out in your life time, but they eventually do." Mickey said. "This, this is true destruction." 

"Good." He said with a frown. "Any of his brothers gonna pick up the banner and come after us next, you think? Is that one of the typical war scenarios as well? One general goes down, just toss another one at us with the same war plan."

"Possibly." Mickey said. "Hard to tell. Depends how they interpret what's to come. As a challenge or a warning. I can't believe the champion to our side would rather hang out in a bar than train." He said, shaking his head. 

"Dude, you had him training for hours today already. It hasn't been that long ago that the man got out of traction. Whether it's a good time to do so or not you're gonna have to cut him some slack."

"He doesn't have that long to prepare." Mickey said, shooting Sam a look that would have made John cower. "Either he's trained, or you're all screwed. Either he can do it, or you're all screwed. Take your pick. But don't presume to tell me how to do the job I've been doing since before the Earth was even created." 

Sam bristled. He felt the heat of the glare, but Sam wasn't about to wither under it. Not when it came to Dean. "He's my brother. I'll tell you what I damned well please. Free will and all. I don't know if you have trained a human being before, but you can't do it 24/7. There is either going to be enough time or there isn't. If not, then we'll come up with something else because it's what we do. It's what we've always done. " He had faced down demons. Which were nothing but politically incorrect angels with an attitude. This was an archangel, and probably the most powerful being short of the trinity, but that was his brother they were talking about. 

"So you want me to take it easy on your brother, because he's your brother, and let humanity be damned for it? That's quite an outlook, don't you think?" Mickey asked, amused at being 'stood up to'. 

"Honestly... do you think you can get anymore crammed into him when he can't hardly move any more? Do you really think it's going to be better to work hard for two days all day then have to wait for a day or even a week while his body repairs itself again? Or maybe that 8 hours to 10 hours a day is enough since you will get to continue longer. But hey, if you can fix his body where it doesn't hurt too much to move, be my guest. I'm not asking you to do anything but realize what it is you are doing." 

"Your brother doesn't feel pain the same way you do." Mickey said. "He's fine. He's got a mouth on him. When he's had enough, he should say so. But sometimes, the heart is indeed stronger thant he body, and it can carry you through. I realize he's your brother and you want to protect him. You've seen some scary things happen to him because of this whole thing. But he's an adult. And he's a warrior." 

"And if I don't look out for him while he isn't looking out for himself, who will? You?" Sam asked. "You can break a body when the heart isn't strong enough to carry you through.. and then the heart breaks right afterward. Don't break my brother." Sam said locking gazes with him. "The demons haven't managed that yet. Would be a real shame if it was an angel that finally managed."

Mickey returned the gaze, looking right through and into Sam. "It would be a shame if his brother broke him as well. Remember that wherever you tread." 

"I do. Every day. Every bad thing that has happened to him has happened because of me. Because I was too damned stubborn to give in to the demon. Or maybe it was because your side was still trying to play by its rules while the other side was tearing my family apart. Thank you for pulling my father out of hell. Thank you for training Dean with the sword. But the hard cold facts of the matter... is that you wouldn't have bothered if it didn't fit your own agenda." Sam said as he got up from his seat. "After all... it wasn't you out there saving people. It was my brother. He's not just a warrior, he's a hero, and you should remember that. Dean may have regained his faith in Angels and Heaven with all this. Me... I lost it somewhere in the future and it didn't come back when I did. So right now, I don't trust you any more than I do the other side. " He started to walk away.

"You want it both ways. Your brother does too. You want the advantages of free will with none of the consequences. It doesn't work that way." Mickey said. "I have one agenda, and that's protecting my...home." He said, referring to the Kingdom of Heaven. He was in a bar after all. "That's always been my agenda. Don't push your own feelings of inadequacy and guilt onto me. Because I'm not someone who will accept it." 

"You just proved my point. Everything you do here is to protect your home. To finish your war." Sam said as he looked back at Mickey. "It wasn't my choice to be chosen for this... it wasn't Dean's. Jessica didn't chose to be pinned to the ceiling and set aflame. So don't go throwing free will in my face. It's one of those things like the right to bear arms. It's subject to interpretation and only applies when it's convenient to the powers that be. "

"You could both drop out of the fight right now." Mickey said. "Nothing says you have to stay in it. Right there, free will. No, it wasn't your choice that you were chosen. But it's your choice whether or not to step up to the plate." 

"Dean has a choice." Sam said. "I don't. If I don't stay where I am, doing what I am doing, I become an easy target for the demon. So tell me. Is Jessica at least at peace up there or is she in hell for living with me out of wed lock and all those other little sins we get taught about in Sunday school?"

"Oh those nice little rules made up by man?" Mickey asked, amused. "She's at peace. I held her hand at her judgement and opened the gates for her." That was another one of jobs after all. 

"Rules made up by man." Sam muttered and shook his head. " I suppose I should thank you for that too. She was the one true innocent in all of this. " He said. "If my being part of this fight some how makes it alright that I've been marked by a demon since before I was eating solid food. Fine. It is what it is... but Jessica was innocent of any of it. She didn't even know that Demons existed. Didn't know that there was any reason to fear the dark. How many people have died like that... innocent of anything to do with this...Just another casualty in your war to protect your home. And free will is somehow the excuse that makes it all okay. We step up and defend OUR home and it's suddenly free will ... our own choice since we didn't go like lambs to the slaughter that makes it all okay and our own damned fault. Nice. And to think I wasted all that time on my knees when it doesn't matter anyway. Cause I have free will." 

"And I don't." Mickey said, emphatically. "That's what makes us different. Free will and mortality. God listens. He doesn't always answer like you think He should, or when you think He should, but he listens." 

"Since I found out what Dad knew about me... I have spent so much time praying... thinking that maybe just maybe there was something out there watching over me. I thought that maybe, just maybe, there was a way to make up for it all... make up for the evil that's been lurking inside me just waiting to pop out. Figured if I prayed hard enough, if I saved enough people, maybe I could find a little redemption. But you know... you hear no often enough... you stop asking. You can think it's cause I'm a spoiled ungrateful jerk all you like. But the fact of the matter is...I'm tired... 20 years is a blink of an eye for you... but it isn't for me. It's my whole damned life, it's every one I have ever loved or thought maybe I could love ripped away from me... it's years of chemicals and electroshock... and watching him die over and over again... years that didn't exist for anyone but me... but it was all for your war. Excuse me if I am just a little bitter about it all." 

"And that didn't happen, and won't happen." Mickey said. "You're being offered redemption right now, don't you see that? Redemption isn't a big event. It's a series of small steps." 

"I'm not doing it for redemption anymore. I'm doing it because it needs to be done. If God decides to grant a little peace in the after life, so be it. If not... well I guess there isn't anything I can do to change that either so.. I can't worry about it any more. I have enough to worry about." Mickey could say it didn't happen, but it did. He saw and felt every minute of it. He supposed he should be thankful for the blessing that Dean didn't. But then... it was Dean who was responsible for it not happening in this time line. Not God nor any of His angels. "Dean is all I have left. Don't destroy him in the process of winning the battle." 

"There are only two beings in the whole universe that can destroy either of you utterly. And that's each other. Brothers have been a dichotomy since time began." Mickey said. "I'm just here to train him and keep him alive until the day comes." 

Sam nodded, although he wasn't sure he believed it. There were days when he was sure a good strong wind could break both of them. Others he was sure they were on top of the world. "Okay... not much else to say then." Certainly nothing that would do anyone any good. 

"I suppose not." Mickey said and raised his beer to Sam. "Except, of course, watch your tone with me. I'll take only so much disrespct before I'm forced to throw down." 

"I think you'll find that my tone directly reflects the amount of arrogance it's directed at. Have a nice night." He said and went to play darts, he had shared and exposed enough of himself for one night. Didn't plan to do that ever again in his lifetime. Not that it did any good. Son of a bitch still pretty much said it was their own fault what ever the demons did because they were blessed with free will. Didn't exactly endear the man to him, archangel or not. 

"Fool. And He loves you so." Mickey said after Sam, before returning to his food and drink. 

Sam took his frustrations out on the dart board, glancing over at Dean periodically to make sure he was alright. It was hard to shake the mood that had settled over him. He wanted nothing more than to be like his brother and able to shake off the job as they called it, for a few hours in a bar, or in the arms of a strange woman. He couldn't though. 

Dean had learned to compartmentalize early in his life. Probably by the time he was eight. Maybe as late as ten. But he knew how to shove the different sections of his life into different parts of his mind. Helped him stay sane. Stopped him from becoming angsty. 

He wasn't sure if anymore there was a 'real Dean,' or just pieces of Dean that people got to see. The real him chopped up and shoved into little boxes labeled 'pool,' 'hunting,' 'drinking,' and 'girls.' Probably the only one that had seen all the parts was Sammy, because he'd been around for all the parts the last couple of years. And the parts that no one else saw, like the 'raising Sammy' part. 

So now he was in 'pool' and 'girls' mood. Flirting with a girl, hustling some pool, and trying to forget the archangel lurking in the corner. 

Mickey frowned as he watched Dean operate. There were plenty of women in the bar, why did he have to focus on the one woman in the place that was bad for him in a big way?

He picked up his wings and beer and made his way over to a table by where Dean was playing pool. 

Dean frowned. The last thing he needed or wanted was a babysitter. So he caught Sam's attention. "Dude, I'm headed out." He said and tossed the keys to Sam, who was at the dart board, and grinned at the girl by his side. Missy? Penny? Dani? It was something that ended like that. Wasn't important anyway. "Come on, this place is a little crowded." He said as he went to lead her out. "Don't wait up." He said to Mickey as he passed. 

"Dean... This is not a good idea right now." Mickey said. Why did they always think they knew best? They didn't even know which end was up most of the time. Humans. 

"This is completely a good idea right now. You've got me all kinked up, she might be able to unknot me, if you get my drift." Dean said with a devil may care grin. 

"Or tie you up like a pretzel." He pointed out. "Have a little dignity." He could understand human needs, occasionally Angels had needs too, but this was... beneath him. 

"Dude? Dignity? Please." Dean said. "I'm fine, and I'll always be fine. You worry too much. Worry about Sam, he's shooting death glares at the dart board. Me? I got plans." 

"I'm not responsible for Sam... and he isn't responsible for what's coming. You are." 

Dean shook his head. "Sorry, I need a little fun in my life, or I get crabby and unco operative. Why? Is she a demon sent by the other side to off me before I get going?" 

"No... but I wouldn't go unprotected if I were you." The woman had been around as much as Dean had and wasn't nearly as careful. "You can't afford to get sick right now." He said and stood to walk away. Free will was a bitch. So were the consequences. 

Dean laughed. "I'm always protected." And squeamish. At the first sight of nasty sores or drainage, he would make up an excuse, or just flat out tell them, and leave. He wasn't stupid. And there was a reason he didn't have an STD or paternity suits chasing him. 

Mickey nodded. "Don't say I didn't warn you." He said and took his seat once more. He figured he could finish his wings and beer before fading away and keeping an eye on him anyway. 

Dean returned an hour later in a bad mood as he joined his brother at the dart board. "Well, that was a buzz kill." He said as he took his share of darts and started throwing them. "Girl needs a body condom."

"That bad huh?" Sam asked. "Sorry to hear that. Maybe we can try another bar tomorrow." He suggested.

"Maybe." Dean said. "So are you done angsting?" He asked his brother. "I might take a turn if you are." 

"Close as I am gonna get to done." Sam said. "Go for it." He didn't want to be alone right then. Needed the reassurance of having his brother there. Didn't need Dean to fix anything. Just to be there. 

"Good. My turn." Dean said with a chuckle as he signaled for a beer. "So she was hot. Get undressed, get to the good part, and god I thought I was going to puke. How does someone let something get that bad without getting it checked out? Even I'm not that bad." Dean said with a chuckle. "So I think it's just me and you tonight. Afraid next time I'll end up with Chlamydia girl or something." 

"Nice." He said. "Dean, you are no where near that bad. You are very careful. You have a survival instinct whether you want to admit it or not." Sam said with a faint chuckle. 

Dean chuckled as he drank his beer. "Yeah, guess I do. Your turn." He said, in reference to the darts. "What pisses me off most, is that Mickey tried to warn me. Guess he can see that sort of stuff. But he's not warning me out of the goodness of his heart. I am so freaking sick of being a chess piece on a board I don't even want to be on." 

"Yeah I know how you feel but he seems to think that free will clause absolves every thing. When was the last time you felt like you had a real choice?" Sam asked. "I mean sure there is always an alternative. We could become real fugitives and run for Mexico and South America, or we could turn ourselves in or go out in a blazing gun fight. But those aren't real choices. It's ways to make things worse than they already are. This is our only choice and I swear if he says free will one more time I am going to pluck his damned tail feathers." 

That image had Dean laughing. "Dude, I'll even help you hold him down." Dean promised. "Seriously, though, when Mom said we had angels watching over us...I'm sure she didn't mean the arrogant I'm right and you will do what I say because I'm a freaking archangel with really big wings kind." 

"Yeah, those guys are too busy protecting their home to watch over little children and their mother. " Sam said with a scowl. "Nope we got the ones that watch over you and take notes I'm sure. Hope they got all the details right." He growled as he tossed the darts one after the other. 

"Well, whatever." Dean said. "They'll do what they're told, and we'll do what we want. Or what we have to." Dean said with a shrug. "I just want this over with. Once and for all." 

"I don't know that it will be." Sam said honestly. "This one goes down, another will just take his place." He said getting the darts and moving out of the way so his brother could play.

Dean took his place and started throwing. "One thing at a time, Sam." Dean said, sounding tired. And he was. He was tired of it all. How much was he expected to give? "Besides, you know what, looking back," looking back all of an hour, "she really wasn't that hot." 

Sam started to laugh then. "Yeah well, I wasn't going to say anything." He said, trying to let some of the tension leave him. His brother didn't deserve to have to hear it. He had enough on his plate. "Maybe we should just go on back to ... our rooms and get some rest." 

"Yeah, probably a good idea." Dean said. He was more tired than he thought he'd be. "Sam...everything's gonna be okay. All right? You're gonna get through this." 

"I know." He said quietly. And he did. He just didn't know how sane he would be by the end of it. Maybe he should follow Dean's example and drink the bad memories away. He wondered if it would work, wondered why he remembered something that had never really had the chance to happen. "I'm just tired is all. Nothing to worry about. " 

Dean nodded. But he worried anyway as they got into the Impala and headed back to the compound. "Dude, maybe we should just go get a whole lot of alcohol and make our own bar here." Would save the hassle. 

"You know, sounds like a plan... " Sam said as he leaned back against the seat. "We can at least close our door and be left alone for a few minutes at a time." 

"And no angels allowed." Dean said with a laugh. "He wants a beer, he has to go get it someplace else." He said as he drove. "But being left alone would be nice for once." At least between Andy, Ash and Bobby, the compound was all set up and running smoothly. 

"No doubt." Sam said. "Unfortunately we are not at any time going to get a few days to be left alone. Your guardian angel and patron saint seems to think there isn't enough time to train you as it is. "

"There probably isn't. But I'll give it my best shot." Dean said with a shrug. "You know, next time, let's just skip the bar and go to one of those massage parlors." 

"So long as we are sure it isn't going to get busted anytime soon." He said. "That would be the last thing we need." 

"Ah yes, the dreaded consequences of free will and all." Dean said as they drove into the compound. "Yup, pulling out tail feathers is a nice pay back for that. Or maybe the pinion feathers." 

"There is that." Sam said with a laugh. "You know, I think he has a very different idea of what free will is. Or what the consequences of it is or should be." 

"That's possible. But I bet his feathers would look really nice in some of that art that Susan chick likes to do." Dean said, referring to one of the other psychics, who didn't talk much, instead she immersed herself in art. 

"Yeah it would do her a world of good too. You know ... all these people... tortured to the breaking point and he doesn't do anything to help them...to fix what was broken. Maybe I'm blaming the wrong guy though... maybe Mickey is just... I don't know... like a computer. It's not going to play a video unless you tell it to, or open your email unless you tell it to. So God isn't telling Mickey to fix things, just train you and prepare you to fight ole yellow eyes." 

"Might not be anything he can do anyway. Aren't angels supposed to have specific jobs and crap anyway?" Dean pointed out. "So I guess we're back to blaming God then." 

"Yeah... I know." He said, grumbling, not wanting to admit it. "He just pissed me off is all. I'll get over it." 

Dean chuckled as they got out of the Impala. "Sure. Cause you never hold a grudge. Not Sammy. I think you still hold a grudge against me for eating the last cookie back when you were nine." Dean said with a laugh. 

"Not really... now the nair in my shampoo you are still on the hook for." Sam said, then went into a long list of practical jokes Dean had pulled that weren't so funny on the receiving end, until he actually found himself laughing.

Dean was laughing as they remininsced about the stunts they'd pulled on each other. "Ah, you enjoyed it. Bitch." Dean said with a grin. 

"Not the nair." He said. "Especially when Dad sided with you over the whole thing." He added, trying not to laugh in that moment. 

"Dude, of course he did. It was the only way we could get you to cut your hair." Dean said. "I might try it again too...you never know." He said with a grin and saw Mickey out of the corner of his eye. "Yeah, yeah, we're in for the night." 

"It's my hair, back off." Sam said jokingly, and frowned faintly at the angel.

Mickey nodded. "I'll see you first thing in the morning. Sun up." He told Dean and turned to leave the brothers in peace. He worried about Sam. So much bitterness, pain and fear wrapped up in that human. It couldn't end well. 

Dean smirked at Sam. "Sun up? He has to be insane. It's the only explanation. Me? Sun up? Yeah, okay." Dean said. He liked to sleep in. Even when they had to be on the road early, he gave Sam first drive so he could sleep. 

"Yeah I think so... but he ahm... seems pretty serious about it." Sam said as he entered the bedroom. "Bet he will drag you out of bed if he has to though. I'd get to sleep pretty fast." 

"Dammit." Dean said as he headed to his own bed. And tried to go to sleep, really he did. But there was that whole vision thing he had. And he didn't have visions! And the training, the pressure...the nasty image of the girl he almost had...sleep came with difficulty and it never lasted long. 

5:30 the following morning Mickey was rapping at their door. He was impatient, wanting to get in as much training as possible. They wouldn't be the ones to choose the time and place for the battle. The wouldn't have time to plan for alternatives. They only thought they knew the evil they were facing. Of course, he supposed human beings had as much trouble seeing true evil as they did true good. 

Dean heard the rapping and rolled over, taking his pillow out from under his head and burying his head beneath it. He had gotten a glance at his watch. No way. Wasn't happening. Five thirty AM? AM? But hell no! Mickey could kiss his non angelic ass. 

The angel stepped through the door, without opening it and strode over to Dean's bed, and pulled the pillows out of his hands "Wake up. It's time to get started." 

Dean grunted and pulled his other pillow. "Too...early." He mumbled. He wasn't an early bird. He was a night owl. All this time of 'watching' him and he didn't know that? What kind of watcher was he? Obviously not that observant. 

Then he was rolled out of bed. By the mattress being lifted off the bed and dumped. "Hey!" Dean said, barely missing getting his head knocked on the nightstand. "Dude! What gives?" 

"It's time to begin training. Get dressed and ready. We don't have time for you to sleep all day." 

"Wasn't planning on all day. I was hoping for at least eight though." Dean said with a frown. "Dude, are you also the patron saint of sadistic drill sergeants?" 

"No, but I might consider it an option in the future, now come on. Everything is riding on your ability to fight with the sword. We don't have time to waste. You want 8 hours of sleep, go to bed before midnight. Now come on."

"This free will theory of yours, it's a freaking joke." Dean said as he pulled on his jeans and a tee shirt. Righting the mattress so he could sit on it and lace up his boots. "Sure, technically I have a choice. I could forget all about this thing, but then all those people die, so really, what kind of a choice is it?" 

Mickey gave him a look. "It's a choice." He said. "You have the ability to make that choice. No one ever said they would be easy choices... but they are choices." 

"Yeah well, option B is a sucky choice. So because of that, you get to stop throwing this free will bullshit in our faces. Because I certainly didn't 'choose' to be in the middle of all of this." Dean said as he finished, grabbed the sword and stalked out. "Coffee first." 

"Yes you did." Mickey said as he followed him. "And those hard choices, choosing to do what needs to be done over what you want to be doing is what makes you worthy to carry that sword." 

"I did NOT choose this. I don't care how you spin it. I didn't choose this." Dean said emphatically as he made his way to the kitchen. Where he had to make coffee because everyone else apparently had the luxury of sleeping in. He glared at the coffee maker as it percolated and dripped. "But you know what? I'll do it. But until I fully wake up, until I've drank my first cup of coffee, I get to bitch and complain and you get to listen. And like it." 

Mickey chuckled, considered pointing out that Dean had just, yet again, made the choice, but decided against it. They just didn't understand the precious gift they had been given. The ability to choose the course of their own lives, to choose the side of the battle, to be able to choose to leave the battle. He found it ironic that they were loved above all others because they could choose not to love in return. 

If Mickey had talked to Sam about how Dean was in the morning, he would have been told Dean and morning did not get along. So Dean rummaged for food as the coffee was brewing, and kept up his bitching monologue. Non stop. Even if Mickey wanted to get a word in edge wise, it wasn't happening. Dean just kept on going and going. He talked while eating. While drinking. While mixing some baking soda in water to rinse his mouth out with. He even managed to complain while gargling. 

"Fine, let's do this. Then you get to leave me alone for the rest of the day, because I will CHOOSE to ignore you." He said grumpily as he made his way out of the kitchen. 

Mickey figured that by the time he was done with Dean for the day, the man would crawl into bed and sleep until time to start again the following morning. It would do him good. He doubted he could convince the man that fasting and prayer would also aid him in his battles and training.

Once in the small clearing designated as their training area, Mickey began once more with stance and form exercises. "Wake up, Winchester. We're going to do this until you can get it right consistently."

"You're an asshole. Why don't you go back up to a fluffy cloud and strum a harp or something?" Dean shot back as he repeated the exercise over and over. 

"You humans take that word Choir far too seriously. " He said rolling his eyes. "Again." He said and made corrections in Dean's stance, although the corrections were becoming smaller, and less frequent. "Good. Go get something to eat, meet me back here in half an hour. Retape your hands, and wear gloves." 

"Why?" Dean said. "Hand to hand? Dude, I'm good at hand to hand. It's all about improvisation anyway." And lots of cheap shots. The cheaper the better. He was already sweating, and his shoulders ached. He was on the verge of wheezing, still with remnants of the pneumonia, but he'd never admit that part. 

"No, because I don't want your hands to blister and bleed." He said looking Dean over. "Go on... get something to eat, and sit down to eat it." He would either have to heal him completely or take it a little easy on him until he healed on his own. 

"Wow, thanks. I was going to stand on my head and eat, but now, thanks to that insightful tip, I'm less likely to choke." Dean said with a roll of his eyes, going into the kitchen and finding Sam in the meeting hall. "Well good morning princess." 

"Hey." Sam said. "You look beat already." Sam said worriedly. "Everything going okay?" He asked. He knew that it was necessary for Dean to train this hard, but didn't like that it was beating him down so far. 

"Dude, I've been up since 5:30 AM. That's completely not a natural state of being for me." Dean said with a laugh as he ate. "Hope none of you expect it to last. Because if Dad couldn't get me up before noon on a regular basis, that angel guy does NOT stand a chance." 

"Yeah, we'll see. He is an angel after all. Wouldn't making you a morning person fall under the catagory of a miracle?" Sam asked with a grin. "So how is training going? Getting the hang of it?" 

"Haven't managed to cut off my toes yet." Dean said with a laugh. "So that's something. I don't know. It's a lot like when Dad taught us how to shoot. Same thing over and over and over and over and over and over..." he stopped saying 'over' when Sam threatened to pelt a roll at his head. With a grin he continued. "It's going." 

"Yeah, well I guess it beats him handing you the sword and saying 'okay, now try and hit me.' No matter how much you wanted to do just that at 5am this morning."

"Dude, next time, you're getting up with me. I cannot be the only one to suffer. Come on, that's not fair. We're in this together, remember? Through thick and thin, early mornings and all." 

Sam laughed. "We each have our own crosses to bear." He said with a grin as he ate his breakfast. "Me... I have to start sorting out what's going on here and find a way to convince Josh we don't need him in charge, Andy and I can do nicely on our own. " 

"Yeah good luck with that one." Dean said. "Well, could send him on a scavenger hunt. Things we need, things we want. That should delay it for a bit, you know, the big show down that ends with you doing push ups." 

Sam laughed. "Yeah, I know. But you know... I just don't do push ups anymore. Stopped all of that a long time ago. Dad couldn't even make me do them toward the end there." 

"His favorite punishment...gone." Dean said with a laugh. "Doesn't mean Josh won't try. Or try that 'don't think I can't knock you down, boy' part. That's fun to watch." 

"Yeah... except I am not so easy to knock down anymore either. Why is it so hard for Marines to realise they don't rule the world?" Sam asked as he downed the last of his coffee. 

"I don't know about that. I've knocked you down plenty of times." Dean said with a grin. "Probably because they were convinced in boot camp that they were the protectos of everything good and just. So when the world keeps going to hell in a go cart, they figure they're the only ones that can fix it." 

"Yeah, well as much as I would love to hand over the mantle to someone else, I doubt very seriously the others would trust him that far. You and Bobby... you earned their trust. Father Reynolds is just a name that they don't have to deal with if they dont want to. Someone coming in this late in the game is gonna have to back off and work their way in slowly."

"Joshua won't do that." Dean said with certainty. "He's like a steamroller. Who expects everyone else to just let him handle things and get out of the way. Problem is, he's in way over his head, even for a military trained Marine. I don't even think Dad would have a full grasp on this situation. I know I don't." 

"I know." Sam said with a sigh. "Sure you don't want to handle Joshua and I will take over your training for a day?" Sam asked. He didn't want to wind up with the same sort of relationship he had with his father with Josh, but it had to be done. 

"Sure!" Dean said, knowing Sam didn't mean it. "So, heard from your favorite politician lately? He's probably out stumping pretty hard." 

"Not lately. I figure he is pretty busy right now. Out on the road campaigning according to the news. The last time we spoke he wanted me on the road with him. But I said no. It wouldn't be the same. I've gotten spoiled to bad hotels and cheap take out." He added with a grin. 

"Yeah, you're spoiled all right." Dean said with a laugh. "I'll handle Joshua, all right? I mean, he sicced Mickey on me. He owes me big time." 

Sam nodded "Thanks. You two are less likely to get heated about it. Me... I have this automatic dad response in those situations." He sighed. "But in the mean time I have to get back to Andy and start sorting things out with him. He has been doing a great job while we were gone but I think he wants to let go of the reigns for a while." 

"Oh most likely." Dean said with a laugh. "I heard Ash scored some weed, and he's got a cute girlfriend, he probably wants to hide out for a while. I'm going to delay training and go talk to Joshua." 

Sam laughed. "Glad to give you an appropriate excuse to be negligent in your studies. I'm going into town later, so don't worry if your baby isn't in the driveway this afternoon." 

"Bet your ass I'm going to worry." Dean said. "And pick me up some M&Ms while you're out." He said as, coffee in hand, he went to find Joshua, get this settled right now before he started giving orders. 

"Yeah I know big bag, peanut M&Ms and a six pack of beer." Sam said. "Will do. " He had a lot to do, a lot to work on. He was relieved not to have to worry about Josh. And whether Dean liked it or not, he and ANdy already had a lead on a hydrotherapy tub. He was going to need it once the training really got started. 

Dean went to find Josh, and found the man doing what he did every morning. Calisthenics. "Don't you ever stop?" Dean asked with a chuckle. He certainly wasn't joining in, not now. Because once Mickey found him (or decided to remind him time was up), he'd be getting a heavier workout than push ups." 

"At my age, I can't afford to stop" Josh pointed out with a grin, as he paused to wipe the sweat from his brow. "So, everything going alright for you?" 

"Oh fine. Except for that whole before sunrise thing. That's really not cool." Dean said. "So, how is going? You know, being here. And being normal. Take it from me, it's a trip seeing things float by and fires lit randomly."

"Hazards of working nights like you do." Josh said. "It's taking a little getting used to, but they are good people, so I am getting used to it. Some of them are shell shocked. Hard to say if they will ever be able to function normally. " 

"They really just need to function in this society." Dean said. "They're like their own little community. The ones that can function get stuff from the outside. The rest get to try and heal. It's a good set up for them." 

"Yes, it is. It's just a very vulnerable set up." He pointed out. "You have demons and government ops coming after them. Vulnerable is not good." 

"They're doing fine." Dean said. "Let's face it, you're the last one that can come in here and announce we have to make changes because, well, you're the last one to come in here. Me and Bobby and Ash? We're accepted, though we're not one of the special kids, because we were the ones that got them out of the facility. You...Joshua, they don't trust you. No matter what Sam and I say, or what Bobby says, or what Ash says, they don't trust you." 

"I don't expect them to elect me president of your little society. I expect them to learn how to defend themselves so that you don't lose anymore of them to the government than necessary." 

"That's a sucky pep talk." Dean said. "Look, this isn't your gig. We're not your platoon. Trying to get these guys to handle weapons and practice battle formations at your beck and call isn't going to work. This is Sam and Andy's gig. Not ours." 

"I wasn't trying to give a pep talk. I am looking at this realistically. You may be right about it being Sam and Andy's show, but that doesn't change the facts about this place being completely vulnerable." 

"Also doesn't change the fact that if it doesn't come from Andy or Sam, they won't listen to a thing." Dean pointed out. "Can't strong arm control of this one, Uncle Josh. You gotta back down." 

"Neither Sam nor Andy are willing to listen to reason, Dean. " Josh said. "What do you suggest? That I sit by and let them get everyone killed? They are doing a great job of pulling a community together, but the rest is being left to the way side." 

"Joshua, you weren't there. You weren't in that facility. They were trying to warp those people into being weapons." Dean said. "And you want to come in and train them to be weapons and expect it to go over well?" 

"I know, but what do you suggest? Living in never never land? Got news for you... there are pirates circling the island, Peter Pan." 

"I dare them to try." Dean said. "I really do. I don't want to see what these guys are capable of, and neither should you." He remembered what Sam did when Dean had been stabbed. "Don't push them. How would you like it if someone came into your platoon when you were still active, a total stranger, and tried to tell you how to run things?" 

Joshua growled in frustration. "I suppose I can see your point. How is training going?" He asked, figuring now would be a good time to change the subject. 

Dean scowled. "He's worse than you and Dad together trying to train me." He said. "Forget surviving the final battle, I might not survive training." 

"Nah, he will keep you alive through the training. Wanting to die... well that I can't help you with. Welcome to basic training, son." 

Dean made a face. "Too late for me to go AWOL?" He asked. 

"Oh yeah. He would just bring basic to you at this point." Josh said with a chuckle. "It will be worth it in the end. You'll see." 

"Yeah, maybe." Dean said. "Where did you meet this guy any way? I swear, if I hear one more thing about free will, I'm going to pull his feathers out." 

"Vietnam." Josh answered honestly. "Free will is one of his pet peeves. He has served all of his existence, done everything ever commanded of him to do because he had no choice. Literally no choice what so ever. God says move, he starts to move. There is no other option. Us...well... God gives us the most amazing gift. He loves us so much that he lets us choose for ourselves what to do with our lives, how or even if to show we love him in return... we even get to curse his name and with a simple I'm sorry, please forgive me we are back in his loving arms. And we don't even appreciate it. So of course free will is a touchy subject for an Angel. I bet he resents the hell out of it. Cut him a little slack. " 

"I get that. But that doesn't mean he can imply that we've personally chosen this. Sam personally chose at six months old to become a special child. I chose from before birth to have to fight with that sword. Mom chose to die. That sort of stuff. Really pisses me off."

"I know. " He said. "Drove me batshit in Nam. But If I had been fighting since just before God got the great idea to create the universe... I'd be a little cranky about odd things too." He said with a chuckle. "You didn't choose any of these things. I know. I didn't choose a lot of my life either, but a good deal of it I did. The best parts I chose. And so did you." 

"Yeah maybe." Dean said. "Would have been interesting to see how Dad would have reacted to him. Sure, he dragged Dad out of Hell, but Dad didn't remember any of that. So it doesn't count." 

"I don't know. They would have either been thick as thieves or hated one another on sight. It's hard to say which. Probably depends on what your father was going through in any given moment. " 

"Yeah, you're right." Dean said with a nod. "But hey, you want to make a good impression on the people here? See if you can score some luxuries. Art supplies, that sort of thing." Dean offered. 

"I can see where that would be a good thing. It's great for dealing with shell shock." He had seen enough of his buddies from Nam painting pictures and weaving baskets to chase the demons away for a few minutes at a time. He hadn't thought of that one. "I'll get on it." 

"Thanks." Dean said with a nod. "Guess I should get back. If he has to find me, he'll pull a Dad and make it even worse on me." And he was just starting to get feeling back in his shoulders too. 

"See you later." Josh said and went back to his own work out. 

Mickey had been just about to head inside looking for Dean when he arrived in the clearing. "There you are." He said. 

"Tried my best to get lost, but this place is too small and my sense of direction is too good." Dean said as he picked the sword back up. It had felt light at six in the morning. Now, it was getting heavy. He had thought he was in shape before too. 

Mickey started him on a completely different set of routines and exercises. He felt sorry for him really. Dean was a mortal man. Free will and the power of faith aside, he was just a mortal man, and he was about to enter into a fight to the death with a fallen angel that had been weilding a sword since time began. 

For all his talk and complaining, Dean did know what was at stake. And he knew what he was going up against. So it was finally Mickey who told him they were stopping for the night, after the sun had set, even as Dean protested and said he had a little more to give. Even as he was stumbling, and holding the sword with trembling arms, fingers feeling like they were blocks of clay, and not flesh and bone. 

Mickey rested a hand on Dean's shoulder. Finally he was getting it. It was sinking in and he was finally stepping up to the plate. It was good, but he was going to have to watch him to see that he didn't hurt himself along the way. He understood now why the brother had been so concerned. "Go get something to eat and get some rest. There is more time tomorrow." 

"There's more time today." Dean said. "You were the one who wanted me to train. So train me." 

Mickey sighed. "And if you over do it on one day you won't be able to train tomorrow. Go. Put it away, put it down. You are able to put it down...go do it." 

Dean sighed. It was more of a growl crossed with a sigh though. "Fine." He said in a clipped tone. And headed back to his room, where he put it on the dresser. And found an unoccupied shower, taking a long hot one before going to scavenge for food. 

Sam and Andy had spent most of the day in the basement, working on the plumbing trying to hook up the hydro therapy tub. "Let's call it a night." Sam said "I'm beat. We can work on it in the morning." 

"You think?" Andy said. They were going by blue prints and plumbing books that Bobby had dug up. "I don't know, maybe we're close?" 

"It's possible... Do you want to keep working on it? Or call it a night. I am good either way." 

"I don't know, sounds good to stop, but who knows what's going to be waiting for us to deal with tomorrow." Andy said with a laugh 

"Tomorrow we might be glad to see this damned thing again." Sam added and shook his head. "First thing in the morning. Otherwise it's going to haunt me all day." 

Andy chuckled. "Think he'll even appreciate it?" He asked jokingly. "Because it's our acknowledgment that he's human, and frail and all that stuff." 

"He will." Sam said with a smile. "But don't expect him to admit it. That would be his admitting that he's human, and frail and all that stuff." 

"Nah, we'll just tell him we found him a nice place to entertain girls." Andy said as he finished putting the tools away. "That should convince him, right?" 

"I figure in another couple of days he will forget his pride and enjoy the tub, even if it does remind him of the hospital." Hydrotherapy wasn't exactly the same as a long sit in a hot tub. 

"You're probably right. So this Mickey guy. Is he really Michael the Archangel?" Andy asked. "I mean, are we sure this isn't some put on by the other side? All I really know is my abilities don't work on him at all." 

"Yeah, he really is." Sam said. "I can't guarantee it , but I just... know." He told him as he started to put away the tools. "If I am wrong ... Well he will find out what it means to go up against a Winchester. No one touches my brother." 

"Yeah, I remember." Andy said. He remembered having to go convince the doctor to come that day. And all that blood, not all of it Dean's. "You two both have that going on. It's honestly scary." 

"This place... The order and all... It's important... The friendships are important... But Dean and I ... We're all that we have... In a strange not so healthy way I guess." he added the last with a bit of a laugh. 

"I get it." Andy said. "And I'll back you up if you need me to. But you know what I saw this morning? I saw Kyle stumbling toward the kitchen." Kyle, one of the psychics. The treatment in the facility had the unfortunate side effect of paralysis. 

"Wait... He was up and moving? That's great!" Sam exclaimed. "It could mean that some of the side effects are going to wear off." He hoped so... Then maybe that would mean he could forget the things that never happened. 

"Yep. Said he woke up, and like always tried to move his toes. But this time they moved." Andy said with a grin. "About time we had some good news, right?" 

"Oh yeah." Sam said. "We better get this up and running then. More people than Dean are going to be needing this." 

S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S 

Joshua was driving back, the day spent foraging for the supplies and luxuries Dean had mentioned. He didn't agree with it by a long shot, but right now, he couldn't do much. He shook his head, then slammed on the brakes before he slammed into a man standing in the middle of the road. 

Mickey got into the passenger seat then. "So you've been busy." He said, glancing at the backseat where many of the packages were. 

"You always did have a way of making an appearance." He said with a faint laugh. "Yeah some supplies for the shell shocked crowd. So how's the training going?" 

"It's progressing nicely." Mickey said. "He's finally getting it. All of it. Didn't expect him to step up to it as vehemously as he did, but he's getting it." 

"It will get even more intense as he starts learning more. He will obsess and work himself into the ground. He is his father's son." Josh said. "You don't have anything to worry about now that he has gotten past the resistant stage." 

"Dedication is all well and good, but we obviously need him alive and well when he finally has to use the sword for real." Mickey said. "Down fall of when freewill co operates with His vision. Sometimes you work yourselves to death and over do it. Why do you think you have so many saints and martyrs?" 

"Now you understand why Sam was so angry with you." Josh said with a chuckle. "He will keep Dean on track. No one else can really. " He sighed "And Dean is doing it to protect his brother..." 

Mickey shook his head. "I hope Samuel can keep him on track. I also hope he doesn't derail him. If I thought I could get away with it, I would take Dean away to train him." 

"You take him away to train him and you are going to wind up having to fight Sam and that's only if you can manage to keep Dean put in the first place." 

"I know, which is why I haven't done it. Anyone else and I probably would have. There's too much distraction here." Mickey said. "I can teach him everything he needs to know about that sword. I can pound every defense and offense into his thick head. Do you think he has the heart to win?" 

"He's John Winchester's son." Joshua said as if that said it all. But Michael knew John. He had carried the man out of hell. It should have been obvious even in the short period of time with him that John was a force of nature. His sons were no different. 

"There are many things that can go wrong between here and there." Mickey said. "Many things you can't possibly imagine. The original plan, we're sure, was to pit brother against brother. But if he has to, he will call up figures from Dean's past that could hurt him just as equally." 

"I know... It's not going to be easy for those boys. But you asked if he had the heart to win and he does. He will do what he has to do... And if it involves destroying his brother... Dean won't be more than a second behind him." 

"You know how God feels about suicide." Mickey said, shaking his head. "Would hate to have him go through all that, just to be condemned to hell, where his soul would be ripped apart and devoured over and over again for all eternity." 

"I know... But we'll lose him if anything happens to Sam, and you want to see Sam go all dark side and twisted, let something happen to Dean. Those two are something else. When they were boys... Sammy was 5, Dean was 9, Sam was taken by a shape shifter who had taken on their mother's face. Dean ran away and found his brother, does that tell you any thing about the two of them?" 

"Yes, they're both psychotic." Mickey said with a chuckle. "It tells me their father kept a good deal of time making them that." 

"Maybe... but it's going to be what saves the world's bacon." He pointed out. "The only opponent Dean would have trouble killing is Sam... Any one and anything else, he will keep after till the end. Sam ... Sam is a good kid with a lot of anger issues. But he would never be able to harm Dean. When your ex-buddy there chose Sam... he screwed up." 

"No, where he screwed up was killing their mother. Forcing their father to have them raise themselves as he went off the deep end and started his war on the darkness." Mickey said honestly. "Those two...we'll see how it goes. I don't know, something's coming though." 

"Yeah I know... " Josh was a hunter, an old hunter. He got to where he could feel the storm as it built. He was sure Bobby could too. "It's why I was trying to get them to set up defenses. They aren't interested in that though. " 

"Your defenses won't help them." Mickey said. "It would be man made. Bunkers, sectors, units, formations. Wouldn't help at all, they're not fighting man, Joshua. Not really. Whatever form it comes in, where it counts, it won't be human." 

"Then what the hell do I do?" He asked with a sigh. "I don't know what else to do to help, and I promised I would look after those boys." 

"The only way you know to help is to take over?" Mickey asked with a laugh. "Mankind continually finds ways to amuse me. Do you know how hard that is? Considering I'm older than your entire species? What you do to help is just be supportive. When everything comes crashing down, and it will, they'll need a rock." 

"This isn't any where near over, is it?" Joshua said with a sigh. "I don't know how much more they can take with out going over the edge. They need an end in sight." 

"The only way this ends is when I take them for judgment." Mickey said honestly. "Until then, they're two targeted children in the middle of a war zone. What would you have me do? Lie to them?" 

"No," He said seriously. "Good way to lose their trust. No... but there needs to be down time of some sort. Targeted, hounded, always on the front lines... okay... but there needs to be something ... " 

"I'll buy them hookers." Mickey said. "Or at least Dean. Don't give me that look, that whole no sexual relations before marriage is one of Man's rules, not God's. Anyone recall Mary? Not the holy mother, not the one from Magdala, the actual prostitute. She wasn't repentant. I think she charged some of the apostles. But she was still holy." 

"I don't think either of them has any trouble getting laid." He said with a laugh. "But go ahead if you think they'll like it." It was after all an age old process with warriors. Fight a battle then pay for the privilege of sex. 

"At least I'd assure that they were clean and healthy." Mickey said with a chuckle. "I'll think of something." Even without free will, he had a very wide and quick thought process. At times, it was made smoother by the lack of free will, he never had to think of what choice to make, because he never had to make a choice. 

"I'm sure you will." Joshua said as they pulled into the compound. "Life is going to be interesting for a while, that's for certain." 

"Life is always interesting." Mickey said. "It's only boring in your heads. I could go on and on about the amazements I see everyday, but you'd be bored. But things will definitely be stepping up." 

"I don't know... maybe we have different ideas of what is amazing." Joshua said with a chuckle. "Or maybe you just see more than we do." He pointed out. "Stepping up is scary as hell but we've known this storm was coming for more than 20 years." 

"I've known this storm has been coming for a lot longer than that." Mickey said. "And I still don't think you'll be ready. But we have no other choice, do we?" 

"No we don't. Ready isn't really an option. Never has been never will be. We charge in and take it as it comes. I know that isn't ideal but it's all we can do." Josh pointed out. "So grab a box of supplies and let's get these inside." 

"Yes sergeant." Mickey said with a laugh as he reached in and grabbed an armful of boxes. "Why are we stocking up on acrylic paint? Thought you were going to try to convince them to become a platoon? Did you finally get over that one?" 

"No but Dean suggested they might need things like art supplies... and yeah he is probably right. Art seems to be just the ticket for shell shock. Don't know why, but it's what they always prescribe." 

Mickey shook his head. "You think we didn't have shell shocked warriors? We didn't exactly give them crayons. We told them to pick themselves up and get over it." Mickey said. "Yeah, yeah I know, it won't work that way on humans. But it's such a nice, clean philosophy." 

"They have picked themselves up." Joshua said. "Some of those people have spent more than a year being tortured. Things like that ... We don't get over completely. Not ever. Sometimes it's impossible to ever really function right again." 

Mickey shrugged. "You all have your messy little issues." He said. "I'm not even going to pretend that I know what it's like. I might have issues, but they're completely different." 

"And each side has its benefits, I am sure. " He said as he hauled things in and set them in the store room. "I wish I knew a psychologist in the know. Would be something these people could use. If they would go to them. Not sure I would bring one here. " 

Mickey looked at him as he set his own burden down. "You have a priest at your disposal." He said. "He's a good man, and he's a good listener. He's been listening to confessions for thirty years, and counseling his parishoners in many aspects of their lives. And he is in the know." 

"There is that. Didn't think of him. Haven't met him yet, probably why. I will talk to Sam about it in the morning and see what he thinks. Apparently I have been put in my place." He said with a chuckle. 

"About time." Mickey said. "Sounds like he was far more successful with you than he was with me." He said with a grin. "Samuel tried to put me in my place at the bar, all that don't break my brother stuff." 

"Yeah, but you figured out what he was talking about, didn't you? I am betting the translation is don't let his brother break himself in the process." 

"Easier said than done. I nearly had to tie him to his bed tonight to get him to stop." Mickey said. "If he's even asleep now." He was willing to let Dean not sleep tonight, if the man so chose. He'd regret it in the morning, and possibly be more open to sleeping in the future. 

"Which is exactly why Sam worried. People like to think that Dean is the one like their father... Usually they are wrong. Sam is John all over again... The John from before this nightmare began. Dean... Well... Dean has his father's inability to stop. He can literally be on death's door and keep going like the damned energizer bunny." 

Mickey cocked his head, he didn't get the energizer bunny allusion, but he got the drift of the statement as he hopped up on a counter and opened a bag of chips. He didn't need to eat, but he had gotten used to eating when he needed to socially, and he kinda liked it. "It's that inability to stop that we're all counting on, you know that. He's not going to be played with gently when it comes down to it. In fact, he's going to be bashed pretty hard." 

"I know that. I do. So do they. But you gotta be careful that he doesn't hurt himself before the demon gets a chance to." He said as he started putting things away in an orderly fashion. 

"I'll do my best. Even if I do have to literally tie him down to sleep." Mickey said with a shrug. "But I've got a good feeling about this you know. This is going to be one helluva fight." 

Joshua nodded. "Dean would have made one hell of a marine." He said, which was to him the highest praise he could give a civilian. 

Mickey laughed. "He would have chewed his drill sergeant up and spit him out." Mickey said. "The sword holder isn't chosen lightly you know." 

Josh laughed. "That he would. " He said with a grin. "Yeah I know. So how many sword holders have survived to old age?" He asked, knowing that this wasn't the first Armageddon to be averted. 

Mickey met Joshua's eyes seriously. "Even before this, did you see Dean Winchester living a long life?" He asked. 

"No..." he said. "Is he going to die accomplishing this goal... " There was no small resentment on his part, knowing that these demons that plagued humanity were allowed to do so, that they were paying for a war that they had nothing to do with. No way of winning even if they did. 

"I wish I could tell you that. But I don't know." Mickey said. "Then again, even if I did know, I wouldn't tell you. Let's say he did, and I told you. Would you fight me on him spending every moment training, knowing those were his last few moments alive and all that?" 

"Wouldn't matter if I did, because it wouldn't matter to Dean. Sam would be the one that would try and tear you apart. I'll warn you though... Dean's death... Could push Sam over the edge. You brought this war to us... Not you personally but angels... Fallen or otherwise. It's your war that is being fought on our soil. Some of us take that and deal with it. Others... Like Sam... It's gonna fester inside." 

"Warning taken." Mickey said. "I don't worry about Sam hurting me though. If Lucifer can't, Samuel Winchester can't, no matter how much he may want to." 

"It's not you he'll hurt is it... If he is driven to the opposing team." Joshua pointed out. "Sam doesn't look like the type to go all dark side. He has a big heart and a gentle nature. But there is something different about him since they had him in that facility. Very different." 

"There was something different about him shortly before he went into the facility." Mickey said. "It's hard for a mortal man to live in two times at once. Hard on the head. I'm not convinced the other returned to his time that never happened." 

"Time that never happened? A future time? Is that where his visions really come from then?" Joshua asked, not really understanding the theoretical quantum physics aspect of that statement. 

"Or perhaps its just Sam is that powerful in the future that he can bend time to his needs." Mickey said. "I never gave it much thought. This whole linear existence is a mortal's deal. Not mine. I've been to the future, I've been to the past. I know how each action turns out. I can't stop the ones that enrage me, but I've seen it." 

"That's a scary thought." Joshua said. "And that Sam is still mingled in with our Sam... I'm surprised the boy hasn't cracked yet. But if there are futures that don't happen... Who knows how the boys will turn out. " 

"Or Sam is just nuts." Mickey said. "Hard to tell. He's tainted, not too m uch I can do for him. Oh if he breaks his neck, there's a possibility I can get his head literally on straight. But other than that, he's on his own. Rules of the game. Never said I liked them, but you know how rules are."

"Gotta love how the Almighty has crippled His heavy hitters in this war. Not like the otherside gives a rat's ass about rules. Especially when they can cause harm but helping people... You guys can't do. There are days when knowing these things... What's really out there... Where it really came from... Shakes my faith." 

"Don't get me started on free will again." Mickey said. "Our Father looks at you as His greatest creation, made in His own image, though trust me, I have yet to meet a human as awesome as the Almighty. But anyway, free will. His greatest gift to you. And you exercise it for all the wrong things. Do you know how often He hears 'please God, just let me win the lottery?' And hidden in the back of your newspapers are the stories of incredible survival. Small boy trapped under rubble after an earthquake for a week, and he's fine. Why? Faith. And he asked for help at the right time. Free will." 

"I'm sorry you don't have free will, man, and I get that you resent that we do. But where the hell does that come into this? I say demons are invading us and your war is happening on our turf, and you say free will. No it wasn't my will. It wasn't Dean's will and it wasn't Sam's. Just because we do what has to be done doesn't make it our will to be in the situation to begin with. You think asking to win the lottery makes it okay for the demons to devour us, possess us, make innocent babies into pawns ? It's taken me damned near 40 years, but the free will card you keep trying to trump us with has gotten old. Especially since you only seem to toss it out at people who are using their free will for the good fight so that you don't have to listen to the truth about whose friggin' fault it's we are fighting a good fight in the first place. " 

"Again, you misunderstand me." Mickey said. "I remember I knocked you out in 'Nam just to get you to shut your mouth as you rattle on about something unrelated. Free will. You have the free will to ask for help. That's what I meant. And we do help, believe me. I've been rather busy since humans sprouted back up. The Fallen fell on earth. And some stayed. God wiped the Earth of them, you remember that little story about the ark and the drunk who built it? All was well and good. Then free will invited demons back into this realm. All those cults and rituals...most often the pagan ones. They'd try to disguise themselves as Christians and end up calling demons instead of who they might have originally meant. Free will, the freedom to worship as you choose brought the demons back. And it affects all of you, because the demons aren't picky. They're not going to stay by who summoned them. Which is why I've been spending a lot more time on this land than I had ever wanted to. You have the freedom to damn yourselves, and you have the freedom to ask for help. But most people, instead of asking for help, they'd rather blame God. Blame game gets you nowhere, really. But that same freedom to worship has saved you. This plane isn't overrun, is it? No matter how it may feel, trust me, it's not. There's enough faith and love and puppies and roses in the world to keep a full on take over from taking place. But enough hatred and bigotry and anger and just plain meanness to keep the peace from being eternal. Free will, man."

"Oh you mean like all those men in fox holes crying for help from on high. The ones that died with half their bodies on one side of me and the other splattered across the rest of the platoon? How about those people men like me and Winchester saved, risking our own hides to do it on our own? They were asking too. What about all the people like Sam that stopped asking because the answer was always sorry kid you're tainted... Through no choice of his own, by the way. Your free will reasoning doesn't apply to him and Dean because neither side gave either of them a frigging choice. You need to stop taking your blanket theories and tossing them over every one. You keep forgetting that one aspect of free will. It makes us all individuals, with individual choices. And I got news for you... I am only responsible for my own choices. I didn't choose for the demons to be here, didn't ever once beg to win the lottery, and I resent to high heaven the implication that maybe just maybe it's my free will or my wife and sons' free will that made them demon food." 

"Just because God doesn't give you the answer you want, doesn't mean He isn't listening. It certainly doesn't mean that He doesn't care." Mickey said calmly. "Let's talk about those people you've saved. You really think you stumbled across them by accident? Let's talk about Sam and Dean. I am giving them the tools to fight back as best they can. But demons, they're not snails. They're not insignificant ants. We're talking creatures that had the audacity to stand up to God himself. You think they're easy to take care of? I fought a war to banish them from Heaven, long before God created you. And it wasn't a walk in the park war, I don't care how the stupid paintings make it look. The ones that were blown across the battlefield, they made the free will choice to join the military. Don't bring up the draft, it wasn't that hard to get out of. They stood for what they believed in, and what you heard crying for help was just an echo for I had already taken them to their reward, believe me. They called out for help from on high, and I took them to paradise."  
"Yes, you banished them from heaven. I know better than you think how hard they are to defeat, remember, I'm one of the idiots down here banishing the sons of bitches. I don't discount the war you fought. But you have got to learn not to throw it in our faces all the time. Cause you come across like a pompass bigoted ass when you do that. That would be like me telling the poor children of the world to suck it up, it's their own choice that their parents don't have any money, so quit sniveling about being hungry already. " 

"You throw a stone in a pond, and half way across the world, a butterfly drops dead." Mickey said. "It's not just annoying existential talk. It's true. You, all you humans, are so interconnected, yet you deny it. The choice that one of you makes affects the rest of you. Dean choosing to take up the sword will save humanity, there's a big example. A kid playing with things he doesn't understand, or maybe he does, is enough to damn you all. You're all so busy concerning yourself with your own petty little lives, you can't see the big picture. That everything you do affects the world." 

"Petty lives? Any one ever tell you that your people skills leave something to be desired? You have managed to tell me that my life is petty, that someone else's choices are my fault because we are part of the same eco system. You probably didn't mean it to come out that way but that is what it comes across as. I realize we are nothing but hairless monkeys that got all of Daddy's love... But try and temper your contempt at least a little. We're the ones that are doing the right things as much as we are capable." Joshua was angry. He had hit a nerve earlier with his free will fixation, and he was tired of the archangel preaching about it when all he had ever done in his life was try to protect others, even after his family had been taken from him. 

"I don't need people skills. People don't listen anyway. I used to have them. Get ignored often enough and they tend to disappear." Mickey said. "Yes I said petty. And I mean petty. Yes, I understand the death of your family hurt. I've lost family too. I've been betrayed, and I've been held responsible for things I had no control over. But I always have to look at the big picture, the grand scheme of things. There are days, centuries, when I wished I didn't have to. That I could take one little step back and let all this be someone else's problem. But I don't have that option, do I? No, I'm the one that has to pull your chestnuts out of the fire. And I'm the one that has to defend God to His own children when He doesn't do as they ask. Because they have the arrogance and audacity to think they can command Him. I'm the one that takes the brunt of the anger, the resentment, even disappointment. Contempt? Doesn't even cover it. Wish it did, it's such a nice word. But you all fall under my realm. And it's a pretty big realm in case you didn't notice. I have an earthquake going on in India. A tornado off Fiji. Genocide in Sudan. But right now, THIS is what I am commanded to do. I could be so much more help, according to you, somewhere else. But I have to take orders like a good little soldier, and I do. I do my best. People skills? An immortality of this and let's see how your people skills are." 

"If our individual lives mean so little to you, must piss you off that they seem to mean so much to him. " Josh said. "You think my pain means nothing, that what the Winchesters went through is nothing... Just so much petty human life. But here you are, using him to fight. Using a petty meaningless individual to do something that apparently the almighty thinks you can't do... Or He would have sent you to do it. But that's what it comes down to isn't it? You're jealous and it's eating you alive." 

Mickey looked at Joshua for a long moment. Then he began to laugh. Hard. "It's the body, isn't it?" He said, still laughing. "This utterly human appearing body. You've transferred human emotions to me. Joshua, I'm not human. I'm an angel. I don't get jealous. If I were human, I suppose I would be jealous. But I'm not. And there is our communication problem. We want the other to understand, but we speak different languages." 

"Yeah well, your language is pretty insulting." Josh said with a scowl. He wasn't in the mood to laugh it off. "You look at me the way I look at a fruit fly, don't you? Nothing but a speck of life gone in a day and therefore inconsequential... Maybe ... Just maybe that communication problem is why people don't listen to you... You do need people skills if you are going to interact. First lesson, don't make us feel like something you would scrape off of your boots." He frowned. "You act jealous by the way... And since demons and angels are pretty much divided by politics and authority issues... I think you do have emotions very close to human emotions." 

"It's not jealousy. It's dread." Mickey said. "I've seen all the outcomes, angels, we're not linear. Not the way you think. Demons are more grounded because they're outside His Grace, but we're not. And I've seen history repeating itself. Your world won't survive it." 

"Yeah well... Don't take it out on the ones that are trying to do the right thing." He grumbled. "Don't minimize our lives. We get a very short period of time on this earth... It's precious time... Things that happen to us, good or bad, it's profound. You don't have to sympathize, you don't have to empathize. Just ... Tread lightly. I'm forty years removed from my pain. And it hit a nerve. These people here... It was just a few short months ago that they were living in torment. They aren't going to want to hear that it's because they chose it... Which is how we translate the words free will... Or that it's just petty pain...in a petty life. They have been through hell, and instead of crawling under a rock they are here, struggling and trying to fight the good fight. They deserve respect." 

"I hope you never understand." Mickey said. "But I promise you this, old friend. If this turns out well, and Dean and Sam are triumphant, I will tell you what I've seen." 

"I can only imagine... I don't say it to diminish what you have done or seen. We wouldn't survive half of what you have. But honestly... What is it going to cost you to lighten up on the free will lecture? What is it going to cost you to actually look at these people as individuals... As someone that matters in the grand scheme of things? And not just as a stone in a stream." 

"Ah, the insignificant stone that kills a butterfly halfway around the world." Mickey said. "It's the stones you have to watch. The boulders never really do much. I have always recognized you as people who matter in the grand scheme of things. It's you who don't." 

Joshua laughed. "We are definitely speaking in different languages. But enough of that for now. I am sure it will come up again . For now I have been set a task... And that is to find things to help those that are shell shocked. " He didn't want to debate it any more. Michael just didn't get it. Josh doubted that he ever would. Empathy wasn't his strong suit. The former Gunnery Sergeant supposed that was all right. It would have to be. 

"Sounds like a scavenger hunt right up your alley." Mickey said, not to mention keep him out from under the feet of Sam and Andy. "I have work to do anyway."


	6. Chapter 6

Mickey left Joshua and left the compound all together. Ditching his human form and taking to the skies without fear. He wouldn't be seen unless he wanted to be seen, and radars couldn't pick him up anyway. He had a destination in mind, Rhode Island, and he got there right before morning mass. Taking his human form once more, and a back pew, he listened with reverence to the word of God, not taking communion because it wasn't his place to, but listening all the same until the end.

Father Reynolds stood outside and bade his congregation goodbye. He took time to speak with those that sought out his time, but eventually made his way back inside and closed the doors behind him. He paused looking at the man that waited within. There was something different about him. Something very different. Almost disconcerting. He moved to sit in the pew in front of the man and turned to face him. "I haven't seen you here before. Welcome." He said. It wasn't missed on his part that the man had not partaken in communion.

"Yes you have." Mickey said. "Just not like this." He looked at the stained glass windows around the church. "It's so peaceful here." He said, nodding with approval. "As if this really was God's house, and not just a turn of phrase."

"I like to think that God's peace can be felt where he is sincerely worshipped. Where he is revered. " He said with a calm smile. "I'm Father Reynolds." He added by way of introduction.

"I know." Mickey said. "I'm...Michael." As close to the truth right now as he could be. "Have you ever considered leaving your congregation? For another where faith in anything isn't quite as strong?"

"If I were called to be reassigned, I would go. " He said honestly. He had given his life to GOD. He would go where he was sent. It wasn't a matter of consideration. It was a matter of obedience.

"I like that." Mickey said with an honest smile. At least someone understood, even a bit. "Hours from here, depending on how you get there, there's a fellowship in need of a spiritual guide. It can't be me, I'm not a very good people person."

"I can't just leave on the suggestion of a stranger in my church." He said with a gentle smile. He didn't recognize the man as an angel.

"I know. But I'm not." Mickey said. "Though I heard a joke today, outside. When you talk to God, you're religious and devout. But when God talks to you, you're schizophrenic. Do you believe that?"

"I would suppose that depends on how you hear him. GOD speaks to all of us if we listen. Of course if he starts telling you to kill your neighbor, chances are you aren't talking to GOD."

"Oh no." Mickey agreed, with a laugh. "For that, God would send His warriors. You're not a warrior, Father. You're a nurturer. Unfortunately, I'm really not. Physical I can take care of. There are some who find comfort in my presence," some of the girls back at the compound, knowing instinctively that he was not a threat for rape or molestation, "but everything else, I can't do. Sam and Andy need you, Father."

He looked concerned. "Did they send you? Is everything alright? " He instantly figured the reason the man was disconcerting was that he was one of Sam's kindred for lack of a better word. He was surprised not to see the St.Michael's symbol on him anywhere but that could just be an oversight.

"They didn't send me. Just an idea I had, to make everything go a little smoother there..." He said before he trailed off and tilted his head at the priest. Who seemed to be searching his form for something. "Is everything all right, Father?" He asked.

"What? Oh yes. " He said, not wanting to give anything away if the man were just a messenger. "Why don't you join me for Sunday Dinner and you can tell me about what is going on there?"

"I would like that." Mickey said as he stood up. He towered over the priest, unintentionally. But he did. "I'll see you then." He said and shook his hand. Puttered around town for a bit before showing up for dinner. Dinner was better. Less chance of a eavesdropper. One could never be too careful after all.

"Please come in." Father Reynolds said as he led the man inside the rectory. "My house keeper left us a nice roast and apple pie for dessert. I hope you are hungry. She seems to think one visitor is an excuse to cook for an army."

Mickey laughed. "I know people like that." He said as he stepped into the rectory. Tastefully but simply decorated, the priest took his vow of poverty seriously. Quilts, gifts from his parishoners Mickey guessed, decorated the walls, the furniture was simple but sturdy as he was led into the dining room. "Dean found a sword." He said simply, cutting to the point. "Did you know about his search for the sword?"

"Yes I do... an earthly equivalent of the sword of Michael the Archangel. Or at least that is the interpretation of visions leading them to the sword."

"Not Michael's." Mickey said. He knew, he still had his sword. "But a compatriot's. Just as powerful where it needs to be. Passed from human to human throughout the generations as it was needed. Though if you ask me, giving it to Attila probably wasn't the smartest move."

"if it was actually his sword, then I would agree. Giving it to a man with a political war axe to grind was probably less than appropriate. Then again, who knows what the reasoning was? You never know why things are as they are. Sometimes you just have to accept life and move on with it. Even things that make no sense, like huns with holy relics."

"Well, luckily for us, Dean Winchester doesn't have a political ax to grind. We lucked out there, he really doesn't have any secondary motivation, or counter agenda." Mickey said as he drank his coffee. "He's a pain in the ass, don't get me wrong, but he'll get the job done."

"He is a good man. A bit abrasive, highly opinionated with no faith what so ever." The priest added with a faint chuckle. "But he is a good man. So it was meant for Dean? Can't say I am surprised. I dont think Sam could handle it. Far too much anger in that young man. Even if he is much more reasonable, and gentle natured than his brother."

"Dean was surprised. He was sure it was for Sam." Mickey said. "I'm so not sure Sam is gentler than his brother. The poor kid is dealing with a lot of stuff right now. In his head. It's amazing what's in his head, it really is." He said as the room slowly filled with light, the purest of lights.

"He needs a gentle hand that one... " The priest said, noticing the changes in the room on a subconscious level at first. "He has been hurt in ways that no one should have to endure. Yet still he stays the course."

"He believes it's because he has no choice. Either this or go 'dark.' He doesn't really see it as making a choice." Mickey said. "I understand when the alternative is so bad, they don't feel it's a choice at all, but it is."

"Every one has their limits. Things they could never make themselves do. Or believe that they can't face. The cause of most suicides really. An overwhelming fear of facing something they believe is so bad, it's unbearable. For some it's loneliness. For others, consequences. It's more complex... for Sam it's becoming evil. He fears that more than death."

"No he doesn't." Mickey said. "He fears becoming evil, but what he fears most is becoming evil and hurting, or killing, his brother. He has his sanity tied up in Dean. It's actually disturbing to witness."

"Especially as Sam is Dean's reason to exist. " Father Reynolds pointed out. "Have you known them long?" He asked, blinking a little. The light was getting a little uncomfortable, making it hard to focus his eyes. at least that was what he thought as he looked at Michael. He made a note to take some aspirin when dinner was done.

"I've known them all their lives." Mickey said, letting his wings become visible to the human eye slowly. It seemed so ostentatious to present himself this way, but he had faith at least a man of God could comprehend him. "Before they were even born."

The priest crossed himself. "Michael." He breathed softly, taking a moment to process it all completely. He KNEW what he was seeing this time. There was no doubt. This was a messenger of God, his chief archangel, the being that would in the end bind Lucifer in chains.

Mickey nodded, and pulled everything back. The human mind could only take so much, he'd seen enough to convince him. "Dean Winchester is the bearer and wielder of the sword. But he and Sam come as a package deal." Mickey said. "I can fix anything physical, I have. But he and the rest of the children are tainted. By no fault of their own, granted, but tainted away from me all the same. I can't help them with their minds. And if we lose Sam, we lose Dean. If we lose Dean, well..."

"We lose everything, and Sam will descend into darkness and exceed the demon's expectations of him." The priest provided. "Taking those he is trying to save with him."

"So you see the stakes." Mickey said. "So, if your parish can spare you, I would appreciate it if you would return with me. Guess I could pay the bishop a visit if you need permission from the diocese. That could even be entertaining." He knew the bishop, a pompous fool really.

"It would be appreciated. That way he can arrange for Mass to be taken care of in my absence. " He also knew that if he just left, even of he said it was important, the bishop would dearly love to have him removed and placed in a supporting role somewhere rather than back in his parish. Even priests were merely human after all. Personality issues could be found even in those called by God.

Mickey grinned. "It can be arranged." He said. "Your bishop will be a humble man soon enough." A visit from an archangel in his office, full with blazing sword, should do it. Even angels had weird senses of humor. Maybe especially angels.

"Alright." He said. "I will go and pack a few things then." He had been worried about his post in the order, having to remain so far away from the group. This would actually make his job much easier.

"It will." Mickey said, inadvertently picking up that stray thought. He handed Father Reynolds a plane ticket. "I'll instruct Bobby to pick you up at the airport." He said, and left the room. Time to visit the bishop, and remind him of his place in the pecking order.

The bishop was doing office work, mundane tasks that kept the diocese open, when his office seemingly burst into flames, bright and holy feeling.

The Bishop immediately dropped to his knees, and crossed himself. He had never experienced anything so intense in his life. "Who are you?" He asked.

In his normal voice, Mickey wasn't soft spoken. His voice boomed like thunder and seemed to shake the very walls down to the foundation. "One of God's followers has been chosen." He said. It wasn't a lie, or even a stretch of the truth even. "For an assignment not here. You will let him go. When he returns, he returns to his place at the altar of God to lead His worship."

The bishop trembled. HE ran a tight ship. The archbishop had never had a single complaint about his diocese. He could see that was about to change, but what could he say or do? "Wh- who... who is called?"

"Father Reynolds." Mickey said. "You'll also stop seeing the married woman, and stop pilfering funds meant for the poor. You don't want God angry at you, do you? Because then he sends me."

The man nodded emphatic agreement not sure if he should say yes or no, because the chance of answering at the wrong moment. "I... I will do as the Lord commands."

"You should have all along." Mickey said. "You are bound by God and the rules Man has put in His place. Chastity, humility, poverty. It's really not that hard. This was your choice. Why are you being an idiot?"

"I don't know." He said sounding like a small child when asked why they had done something stupid. "I... I lost sight of my faith." He admitted finally.

"You are an idiot." Mickey said. "Confess your sins to the archbishop. Take your penance. Probably a sabbatical while you're at it too."

He nodded emphatically, he paled even more, and his blood ran cold. He couldn't convince himself this was a dream, no matter how hard he tried.

Mickey drew everything in again, appearing as a mortal man once more as he sat down in a chair across from the bishop. "That went well. Do you have any Jolt soda?"

The man trembled as he slowly shifted position on the floor. "N-no... I can... I can send out for it if you... if you want it." He suggested as he slowly got to his feet and resumed his seat behind his desk.

Mickey sat back and appraised the man behind the desk. "Not so powerful after all, are you?" He asked, with a glimmer in his dark eyes. "Nothing you do goes unnoticed up High. How could you forget that?"

He didn't look the angel in the eyes. He couldn't bring himself to look upon his face. "I don't know... started slipping and didn't want to stop."

"Free will sucks." Mickey said with a frown. "Look, you're not damned. Yet. Keep it up and you'll definitely be roasting in the fires of hell, trust me. Even Lucifer holds men of the cloth to a high standard."

He nodded, calming down a little at a time. "Right... yes.. not damned yet."

"Pretty damn close though." Mickey said. "If you were to get hit by a bus tonight, you'd definitely get a one way ticket straight to hell. Come on, man. Stealing? Adultery? Coveting? Envy? What's next? Murder?"

"No! Never!" The bishop exclaimed. He had even avoided some of the more heinous indiscretions that some of the other priests had been caught indulging in.

Mickey laughed. "You humans. It's the threat of hell that keeps you on the right track, rather than the promise of paradise. Let me tell you, you're not exactly made exactly in His image, because He's a whole lot smarter than you. Might come with that whole omnipotent thing though."

"I will do as the Lord commands." He said, figuring it was the safest thing to say in that moment. He didn't have the faith he had in his youth. Not that he doubted God existed, just doubted that he mattered in the grand scheme of things.

Mickey rubbed his temples, a human expression of being fed up, since he was in a human form at the moment. "Of course you matter in the grand scheme of things. Do you think I would be here trying to right you if you didn't? Make up your mind, Bishop. Either you think you're less than a worm, or you think you're the most powerful man here."

"I don't think you understand. How could you... you spend your existence in His presence. Down here on earth it isn't so black and white. Not so easy to keep your faith."

"There's one thing to have a crisis of faith, and another to flout His rules because you think you can get away with it. That somehow those robes and that ring make you above everyone else." Mickey said calmly. Always back to what he couldn't understand.

The bishop fell silent. "There is no excuse. I am weak." He admitted finally. He had given his entire life to God and it had left him feeling hollow. He filled that space with what he could justify in his mind, even if he knew underneath it was all wrong.

"Then you need to leave the priesthood. If serving God isn't enough to fulfill you, and make you feel part of something, you need to find another life." Mickey said. "Porn star maybe."

"I hardly think it's necessary to go that far." The Bishop said. "I will... I will pull it together." He promised.

"You hardly think it's necessary?" Mickey said, rising suddenly. "You hardly thought it was necessary to stick to your vows also!"

The priest shank back, sliding back to his knees suddenly. "I'm a mortal man with mortal failings. I will pull my life together, adhere to my vows."

"You see that you do." Mickey said, looming over the desk. "Let Father Reynolds be an example to you. He's been chosen to fulfill an important mission that will save the world. While you get a lecture."

The bishop once more nodded emphatically, too frightened to think clearly. He wanted the encounter to be over, wanted more than anything to think that it had never happened, but he didn't doubt that it had, and that it was an amazingly profound experience.

"You see that you fix your life." Mickey said. "And fix your faith. The Church and the faith have no room for personality arguments. You will be watched." Then...he disappeared.

The bishop slid the rest of the way to the floor and began to sob.

SNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSN

"Okay... I think we actually have it finished." Sam said, looking over the hydrotherapy tub. He hadn't been able to sleep so he had come down here to work on it again.

Andy looked at Sam as he reached for the handle to try it out. "Are you sure this time?" Andy asked. Last time something wasn't hooked up quite right, and Andy was STILL soaking wet from being sprayed with water until Sam could shut it off.

"As sure as I'm gonna be until I turn this handle." Sam said with a grin, and turned the faucet, this time things seemed to be working alright. ... so far... anyway. Sam was going to fill the tub, turn things on and drain it completely before celebrating too much.

Andy exhaled in relief when he didn't get sprayed this time, and watched the tub fill. "So how do we get him in it?" He asked with a grin. "Throw a six pack, some M&Ms and a couple of Hooters girls in there?"

"That would do it " Sam said with a laugh. "Although I suspect after another day of training with the sword he will be more than happy to get in here and relax a while." Sam said. "Once he is sure we aren't looking."

"So he's really an angel then. I thought angels were supposed to be nice, and kind and comforting?" Andy said with a chuckle as he dipped his hand in to check the water temperature and nodded approvingly.

"Not arch angels. They are the ones that are there to battle on God's behalf. " Sam said. "You know, the guys that turn cities to salt and punish housewives for looking over their shoulders."

"Oh. Okay." Andy said, eyes widening. He wasn't all that up on theology, he was usually too busy worshipping the ganja to tell the truth. "Do we have to keep him here?"

"Not really... but I don't know that it would do any good to kick him out. I mean he has to train Dean and Dean has thrown himself completely into it. Why? Is he bothering people? I can talk to him if he is."

"No, nothing like that." Andy said. "He's quiet is all. I was just, you know, freaked out about the whole cities to salt thing. He can really do that? Is he a he? I've seen Dogma. Is he neutered?"

Sam laughed. "Haven't looked and sure as hell not going to ask if he is anatomically correct by human standards. Not the sort of man I want to say hey dude, are you dickless or what?"

Andy laughed at that. "Okay, true. Dean's not taking holy orders or something is he? Cause that won't last. No sex, no swearing, no drinking..."

"No... no holy orders. I would have to worry if he were possessed by some angel or something if that were the case cause... talk about not Dean things to do." He said "Definitely not what I expected from an angel, that's for sure. "

Andy laughed at that. "What were you expecting? Halos and harps? So was I, so what do I know, right?"

"I don't know about halos and harps but I sure wasn't expecting the attitude that's for sure. Guess neither of us had any clue what angels were like. "

"I never gave them a thought one way or another really." Andy confessed. "I'm an atheist. Is he going to be beat me up? Whoa, am I still an atheist if I believe he's an angel?"

"Really wouldn't know how to answer that. I've believed in demons all my life... which means I sort of have to believe in God and angels. Don't have a lot of faith anymore though. " He shrugged. "Guess I am more of an agnostic these days. I know God and His forces exist. I know Lucifer and his forces exist...until recently all I have dealt with are the bad guys... then the good guys show up and flip me attitude because I supposedly have free will in all of this."

"Well someone's got a chip on his shoulder." Andy said. "Not sure if its you or him. Maybe both. Maybe you guys can trade or something."

"Oh I'm pretty sure it's both." Sam said with a faint laugh. "I know I do. Didn't exactly choose to have demon's blood poured down my throat at 6 months old... or to have my mother die or to be raised as I was... so no... this has nothing to do with free will."

"Hey, my bio mom burned herself to death on behest of my evil twin brother before I knew she was even alive. Guess I chose that too." Andy said with a chuckle as he offered Sam a beer that Joshua had picked up on his last trip out.

"Some how the fact that some one somewhere did choose it equates to our free will." He shook his head. "It's a mess. Guess they don't teach dealing with angels in hunter school." He said. "Or vice versa." He opened the beer and took a long drink.

"Eh, screw him then." Andy said. "I mean, he's here for Dean until Dean can handle that thing without hurting himself. The rest of us, we can ignore him, right?"

"There is that." Sam said. "I knew that you were my second in command for a reason. Someone has to be able to tell me to chill every now and again."

"Yeah because every time Dean does, you get even more tightly wound." Andy said. "I'd offer you a joint if I thought you'd take it. Does wonders for calming. Really."

"Yeah but I get a little ... out of control ... if too relaxed." He said. Not wanting to take any risks or chances after the man he had pretty much jellied in a fit of anger.

"Yeah, when Dean's threatened." Andy pointed out. "Dude, he stabbed your brother. You reacted. Unless someone stabs him again, I think you'll be okay."

"Yeah... well...it's hard to say. Sometimes I think I'm losing it... I don't know that I really need to relax or open things up anymore than they already are. Some days it doesn't even feel like now... like this timeline ... is real."

"You told us you didn't remember anything." Andy said. Dean told him how strange Sam had acted before the government got him. And Andy was there for the aftermath.

"I lied." Sam said with a sigh, realizing his mistake. But it wasn't like Andy was going to lock him up for what was going on inside his head. "Back when Dean was in the hospital in New Orleans I had started having what I thought were visions, only... only it like living through it all." He said in low tones. "It wasn't visions... it was me, sending warnings back to myself about what was gonna happen. " He explained it all as best he could. That he actually remembered years in that place, remembered seeing Dean tortured and killed just to see what effect it would have on him. He remembered killing time and again, lashing out at those who tormented him. "I can't let my guard down." He said. "Not for a second."

"You can't live like this." Andy said. "Let me guess, you haven't told Dean. That guy worries about you just as much as you worry about him, you know."

"And that is precisely why I can't tell him. He has enough going on right now with the training and the eventually battle to the death with a demon. He can't do that if he is distracted by something that he can't do anything about."

"He's your brother." Andy reminded Sam. "But don't worry, I'm not going to run off and tell him. So are you still sending messages back to yourself?"

"No... that timeline doesn't exist anymore since you guys rescued us." He said. "I don't know if I don't develop that power now, or if it's just that I don't have time to send back warnings from here on out." Sam shook his head. "But I am stuck with the memories because I lived it... whether it happened or not... gotta love paradox."

"Sounds like something out of Star Trek." Andy said with a chuckle. "I don't know, should we get you some therapy?"

"With who? I mean... if I told anyone else about it they would lock me up for being delusional." Sam said with a sigh. "Not sure what good it would do anyway."

"Maybe make you feel better?" Andy suggested. "Cause if you don't, you know Dean's gonna pick up on it. That angel dude can keep him busy and tired for only so long you know."

"Yeah well only need to keep him distracted until the whole final battle thing is done." Sam said honestly. "After that he can know.. but I don't know who I could go to for therapy to be honest, and there are those here who are more in need of it than I am. "

"You know who you sound like? You sound like Dean." Andy said, shaking his head. "The whole placing yourself at the bottom of the list. Because other people are more important than you."

"That's what leaders do" Sam said. "It's also what Winchesters do." He said with a faint smile. "Dad was the same way."

"Thought that was the one thing you would change about your brother if you could change anything at all?" Andy asked.

"Yeah. But he takes it to whole new suicidal levels. Me I just suffer in silence." He teased. "Dean thinks that the only way to do anything is life or death."

Usually his life or death, but Andy didn't say that. "Okay, so we'll find someone to help you. That's all." Andy said. "Because if you space out on us, then that means I'm in charge. And I'll end up letting Joshua walk all over me, cause that man scares me."

"Josh is easy. Just be sure to show respect when you are telling him hell no...and if that doesn't work... change his mind for him." Sam said. He wasn't about to let Joshua horn in on the control of the order.

Andy chuckled. "Yeah, I could do that." He said. "Or you could just not make me deal with him. I mean, he's your 'uncle' and all, not mine. I'm just a pot smoking hippie to him."

"As long as I am here, you don't have to. If he gets to be too much trouble, send him my way. " Sam said. "He is just an old marine who is used to a certain way of doing things. Dad was like that. Hard to get him to bend on some things. We managed though ... sometimes." He added with a laugh.

Andy laughed. "Yeah, don't worry. I'll send him your way." Andy promised. "Okay, hydrotherapy tub done. We got beer, munchies...what else do we need to do?"

"I'm good for now. Don't think sleep is coming any time soon." Sam said. "Not with out a good deal more alcohol."

"Then let's get you a good deal more alcohol." Andy said with a grin. "Cause you look like crap and you need to sleep."

"That obvious huh?" Sam said with a sigh as he downed his beer. "Maybe a dose of advil pm or something... I don't know. " The situation was wearing Sam down. Just the memories that he couldn't share. Knew he shouldn't share even if he could. It created a level of anxiety and paranoia that wasn't healthy for anyone. But... what if it wasn't over yet? What if there was another round coming? Quillon had stirred that pot again nicely for him.

"Yeah, man, that obvious." Andy said. "I'm going to go remind Zoe that you didn't kidnap me forever. Seriously, get some rest."

"Yeah... I'll try.See you in the morning." Sam said as he let the water out of the tub and got to his feet. "Have fun." He said and exited the room, making his way back to the one he shared with Dean.

"Dude, sneaking in this late, there better have been a girl involved." Dean said from his pillow. He was a bit of a light sleeper when Sam wasn't where he could see him when he closed his eyes. As much as his body right now wanted him to be a deep sleeper.

"Nope... just working on something with Andy." Sam said as he stripped down to boxers and crawled into his bed. "Got a hydrotherapy tub installed in the basement. Figured it might come in handy."

"Joshua's been complaining about the ravages of old age." Dean said with a shrug and looked at his brother. In the dim light he could see it. Sam was NOT okay. No matter what he said, he wasn't okay. "We're gonna have to have a talk once Drill Sergeant Archangel lets me breathe, aren't we?"

"I'm just tired. Spent all day pretending I was a plumber." He said by way of explanation. It wasn't entirely a lie. Not really. He just skipped a lot of detail in between.

"Yeah, okay." Dean said, in a tone that said clearly Sam wasn't fooling him. But he didn't press the issue, they were both too tired to get into it. Dean was bad and awkward at pressing for 'share and care' in the first place, even when rested.

"It's nothing to worry about, Dean." Sam said pulling up the covers. "Goodnight. See you in the morning."

"Yeah, okay." Dean repeated. He wasn't convinced. It would come out of Sam like a girl sooner or later. He just hoped he'd be able to deal with whatever was hanging so heavily on his brother's mind.

Sam turned over to face the wall, hoping that his brother wouldn't notice that it took him forever to fall asleep.

Father Reynolds arrived in the early morning. In Dean terms it would be late at night, the sun just starting to peek out between clouds as he rode with Bobby to the compound in a rickety old pick up truck. He was surprised he'd gotten permission. Not only permission, but a blessing to go. And the bishop had looked nearly in awe at him. At him! The priest he was threatening to banish to a backwoods parish because he didn't play political games.

"It's good to finally meet you in person. But what was it that brought you out here?" Bobby asked.

"I felt like I was needed." Father Reynolds said. "In fact, honestly, I was told I was needed. It all sounds crazy, I know."

"Told? Oh... let me guess. our friendly neighborhood archangel. That isn't widely known by the way. Just us that have to deal with things. You know."

"Friendly is far too strong a word." Father Reynolds said with a laugh. "I thought I was going to pee myself there for a moment. Archangels aren't supposed to be friendly though, they have one wing dipped in blood after all."

"Yeah I know. Not entirely unlike hunters that way. He isn't a bad sort really. No worse than the boys' father, John. Now there was a man who could rub people the wrong way with out half trying."

"If I had to have a direct servant of God fighting on my side, I'd rather he be able to do the job at hand, than friendly." Father Reynolds said. "But you're right, angels don't have the monopoly on those particular personality traits."

"Now Dean and Sam... they have authority issues. Dean only recognized one authority, and that was John... Sam... didn't even recognize that. So it's been a little touchy with him and those two, but I think they will manage to make it just fine."

"Sam recognizes Dean as an authority." Father Reynolds pointed out. "Perhaps Michael needs to revamp his approach. Or maybe I can act as a buffer, I don't know. He already knows his limitations, that's why he asked that I come. I like to think I'm far more of a people person than he is."

"That goes without saying." Bobby said with a chuckle. "Dean and Sam... those two have a relationship I wouldn't want to define. But yeah a buffer between Mickey and the rest of the group could certainly be used."

"Then I'm glad I was granted a sabbatical." Father Reynolds said with a smile. "It's good to be needed."

"Oh we need ya. Between the people needing a safe place to talk, and buffering the freaking all mighty archangel." That was still something that even Bobby had to stop and pinch himself about. "Then there is the fact that we are going up against a fallen angel... yeah a priest is probably a good idea right now."

"Glad I can be of some help." Father Reynolds said. "All those poor children..." he shook his head, "I'll do what I can."

"Thank you. Can't offer you a house right now. Still working out the bugs on our little almost town we found. But there are rooms in the office building we have converted. Can give over a couple of them for you."

"I don't need a house." Father Reynolds said. "Just some space. Somewhere to sleep would be nice. And someplace to talk. That's all I really need." He took his vow of poverty seriously.

"Well that we've got." Bobby said as he got out of the truck to unlock the gate that warned people to stay way, toxic waste. He climbed back in, drove through then got out and reversed the process.

"This place is safe?" Father Reynolds asked, seeing the toxic waste sign. Not that it mattered in the end, God wanted him here, so he came.

"Yeah. We got it cleaned up and safe. Not that anyone on the outside knows that." Bobby said with a grin. "It's amazing some of the abilities these kids have. "

"Yes, I've heard." And he had seen some random things on the video feeds. "I think this will work out. I have faith." He said with a grin.

"Good thing, Padre. Cause you are gonna need it around here. Not a lot of anyone else here does any more." Bobby said as they neared the small grouping of buildings.

"Maybe not." Father Reynolds said. "And don't worry, I'm not going to preach faith in God and all that. I think these poor kids are past that."

"Right now I think that whole private conversation thing, and the comforting presence is exactly what they need. A chance to let out some of what's eating them alive. Maybe not feel so tainted when they are done."

"I'll certainly do my best." Father Reynolds said. "This fellowship has no chance of working if we all collapse from within. Then where is the world?"

"Scary thought, isn't it? The fate of the human race is in the hands of a bunch of traumatized kids."

"They made it out of the facility. They made it through the first few days surrounded by strangers. They're stronger than they seem. We just need to convince them to rely on that strength." Father Reynolds said.

"In some cases easier said than done... in others... it's gonna be hard convincing them they aren't invincible."

"I think Dean, special child or not, falls into the latter category from what I've seen." Father Reynolds said. "We do have our work cut out for us. But we're supposed to be a community, and I am focused on that."

Bobby nodded as he helped the priest with his bags and led the way to his room. "Yeah I think that would do 'em a world of good. They are pretty much used to being outcasts and oddballs...and I hate to say it, test subjects. Pretty dehumanizing."

"Yes, it is." Father Reynolds said. "But this is a community. It is not the last outpost for the outcasts. It's not an army base of would be could be soldiers. It's time we started acting like it. Our forefathers settled in communities like this size, they didn't make it work by staying separate and apart."

Bobby smiled, warming to the priest in that moment. "When you're settled in here, I can show you around and to where you can set up an office."

"It doesn't take me long at all." Father Reynolds said as he was shown to a place he could sleep. He put a blanket a parishoner had made him on the bed, hung a cross on the wall, and placed his Bible on the nightstand. "So, the tour?"

Bobby smiled and led the priest through the halls, when he would pass by someone he would introduce the priest. Those there knew that Father Reynolds was part of the order, so it wasn't quite as much of a shock as finding Josh parking his truck out front had been.

Father Reynolds greeted each one with a warm handshake and a friendly word, committing each face and name to memory, reading in their eyes which would need him the most at first. He'd been a parish priest long enough to be able to pick that up in people.

Bobby showed him all there was to see which wasn't much just yet, and then showed him to one of the first floor offices that they hadn't turned into bedrooms. "And this is where you can set up shop."

"This will do nicely." He said, planning on going through what wasn't being used, to make it a little more comfortable. "I'll set up here, I should be done by the end of the day."

"Okay. We serve meals at 7, 12 and 6. Otherwise you are on your own. " Bobby said. "I have a few things that need taking care of, so I will leave you to it. Sam should be up and about sometime soon. Don't expect to see much of Dean for a while Mickey has him pretty busy."

"I can imagine." Father Reynolds said as he left to explore the grounds. One of the girls who refused to talk since leaving the government facility was just sitting on a worn bench. So Father Reynolds just sat next to her and stared at the same tree. Just sitting.

Deirdre eventually glanced over at the priest, then looked back at the tree. He wasn't one of them. She knew that. She could always tell which ones were ... different.

He just sat there with Deirdre, radiating peace and serenity. Because he was serene at the core of it all. He'd dedicated his life to God's work, and found great joy in it, even in the heartbreak he'd encountered over the years. After a while, he looked at her. "Perhaps you can show me where I can get something to drink?"

She looked up at him as he spoke and smiled, nodding as she got to her feet and waited for him to do the same before leading the way into the mess hall.

He followed the young girl to the mess hall, where he saw Sam making preparations for breakfast. "Good morning, Sam." He said with a warm smile. "Deirdre here is acting as my tour guide."

Sam looked up in surprise at the priest's voice. "Hi." He said with a smile and moved to hug him gently. "Glad she is taking good care of you. When did you get in?"

"I got in a few hours ago. Bobby got me settled in for the most part." Father Reynolds said. "I feel I've done all I could for my parish, time to spread my wings, see where else I can help. And I had an advisor in that area. Sam, you should have called me before this." He admonished gently.

"I know... didn't want to create a conflict of interest." Sam said. "I know you can't normally just take off when you want to." He didn't have any idea how to broach it all with the priest even though he was a part of it now.

"Well, I'm here now." Father Reynolds said with a smile. "Just in the nick of time too, I see. No one knows how to make a good batch of scrambled eggs apparently. Deirdre, bring us some milk please." He said as he waved Sam aside.

She nodded and went to get the milk.

"Oh... oh... show up just to insult my cooking." Sam said with a smile, but stood aside to let the priest take over. Deirdre was responding to him, and that was good to see.

"You were cooking? I thought you were making paste." Father Reynolds said with twinkling eyes as he took the milk from Deirdre with thanks. "You all need more help than you can provide yourselves. And that kind of help, I can give."

"There I have to agree." Sam said. "And paste is what Dean makes and calls gravy when it's his turn to cook. This is... probably closer to rubber cement." He laughed

"An apt description." Father Reynolds said. "So I'll be making rounds. Back in the day, priests used to make house calls, check up on their parishoners that they felt were having a difficult time. It's fitting that I am able to return to that. It really is."

"Good. I'm glad that it's something you are up for cause we really do need you. I'm glad you're here."

"Sam, I entered the seminary because I wanted to dedicate my life to helping people by serving God in whatever way he chose." Father Reynolds said. "Where else would I rather be? I think you, though, you I'll have to schedule an appointment with, so you don't try to shrug me off."

"It might be the only way there's time." Sam said. "Things have gotten really busy since Dean and I got here. It's a good busy for me I guess, but busy."

"Be careful, Sam." Father Reynolds said gently. "Wearing yourself into the ground looks good on paper, but it never has a good result."

"Sometimes...sometimes it's the only thing I can do." He answered. If he didn't stay focused on the here and now, this reality, he was sure that he would fly apart. It was strange, but the pain of the blasted chunk of metal in his neck had kept him focused before. Keeping Dean in one piece had kept him focused on the road. Here... here there was only work.

"You can talk to me." Father Reynolds said. "I ate dinner with an archangel. I've seen the ghost of a priest I considered a close friend. I've seen the power of the children like you, and I've seen the damage done to you and them. There isn't much left that would shock me. And nothing left that I can't get over being shocked from."

Sam nodded. "Once you have the others on your schedule...come talk to me about setting up a time" He said and smiled at Dierdre. "Don't let him work too hard." He told the young woman in a gentle tone and turned to go.

She sighed watching him leave.

"That one is going to be a problem." Father Reynolds said as he mixed up a large batch of scrambled eggs. "He'll end up keeling over from something or other before he admits there's something wrong. This, the same man who chews his brother out for doing the same thing." He shook his head. "Dierdre, do you think you can be my eyes and ears? I can't be everywhere at once, maybe you can help me out with keeping tabs?"

She looked thoughtful for a moment then nodded. He hadn't asked her to speak, he had simply accepted that she didn't and spoke to her as though she were normal in all other respects. She liked that. She liked Sam too. He was always gentle with her, even though she knew there was a lot of power in him. A lot of dark and angry power. A lot of fear as well.

"Thank you." Father Reynolds said. "Let's see if we can get going on breakfast before someone else comes to ruin it. I'm surprised you all aren't eating potato chips and coffee and calling it a day!" He teased.

She smiled and laughed silently. Then went about gathering a few things from the refrigerator to go with the eggs. She was glad that the priest had come.


	7. Chapter 7

It had been a couple of days, but Father Reynolds knew better than to actively pursue Sam Winchester. He'd find some excuse. And it wasn't like he wasn't needed in other places here. And he was making progress, slow excruciating progress, but progress.

He was the one in the compound they greeted with a smile. He never judged, just supported. Andthough he didn't pull punches, he did so very gently. He'd even gotten to where some of them sought him out, instead of the other way around.

But he knew Sam wasn't there yet. Brief glances, innocuous conversations, that's all he got out of the boy.

So he waited until Sam was waiting for his brother to get over with his training and sat silently beside him.

"I would almost think you were avoiding me, but you'd never do that, would you?" Father Reynolds asked gently.

Sam smiled. "No, it's just been busy. With all that there is to do around here, and trying to make sure Dean doesn't do himself in with all this training. Was there something you needed to talk to me about?"

"I was hoping there was something you wanted to talk to me about." Father Reynolds said. "You're carrying a lot of weight on your shoulders. I know that. You're also carrying a lot of things inside your head."

"I don't know what good it will do to talk about it." He said softly. "It won't change anything." It would only bring it to the surface instead of leaving it to glide underneath like a shark.

"Because it's tearing you apart inside." Father Reynolds said. "Eating you from the inside out like a cancer. Could it really hurt to talk about? Don't you think there'sa chance some of those teeth can be pulled with a little discussion?"

"I don't know... almost afraid that talking about it is going to give it form. This way I can just write it off to being insane... if I talk about it... it becomes a reality... for me... Didn't really happen... I just lived through it but... it never happened."

"That has to be a horrible paradox." Father Reynolds said sympathetically. "What was all tied up in what will never be."

Sam stared at the ground. "I watched them kill my brother... and every time I could turn back the clock, it didn't turn back for me... not really... I remembered... and each time I failed... time and again I kept failing him and the others until I stopped fighting it and let them take me... I ... I ... I don't even know if I can explain it really... the real me... the me that is in this time line was sick sothe me that isn't supposed to even exist took over... and the consiousness is gone... but the memories aren't." He whispered.

Father Reynolds just listened. "It must be horrible." He said. And he could very easily imagine it was. "All the possible futures you see, and none of them pleasant."

"I don't know how much has changed or if it's just postponed. When Quillon captured us... I was sure it was all starting again. " The drugs, being strapped to the table... the constant pain even if it was just from the microchip they had implanted in his neck.

Michael was right to be concerned. Sam was like a teapot ready to boil, with the lid screwed on too tight and the spout plugged up.

"Do you replay these memories all the time?" He asked the younger man.

"I try not to. Sometimes I can push it aside...when we were hunting for the sword, I could push it to the back of my mind. " He said, his tone was haunted, his eyes revealing even more than his words. "But when I sleep... it's all there when I sleep."

That certainly explained the dark circles bruising the skin underneath Sam's eyes. The young man had been through a severe trauma, even if it linearly didn't happen. This wasn't something that he could be told to forget about and that was the end of it.

"What do you see, Sam?" He asked quietly.

"Death... " he said honestly. "I kept killing them... I've even done it in the real world... I... Someone hurt Dean and I wasnt completely there...completely awake and I ...I killed him. Turned his insides into jelly with a look... Father... what am I?"

"A confused, hurt boy who has seen far too much for his years." Father Reynolds said. "Who's carrying the weight of this community and this world on his shoulders because of his certain abilities."

"I'm tainted somehow." This was said so softly that even Father Reynolds could barely hear. He didn't want the others to hear that, even by accident. "He says I'm chosen... not exactly like the others. I'm supposed to be... different... more in his estimation...less in mine."

"And in the end, you are still Sam Winchester." Father Reynolds said. "You are your own person and you are not tainted." He said the last part hushed, for the same reason. "You've been through an extremely traumatic experience, it's no wonder you feel the world crushing down on you all the time."

"How can I not be?" He asked looking for all the world like a little boy inspite of his height and age. "How can I do these things... and not be ...wrong some how? Unnatural."

"You were born of a man and a woman. That's natural." Father Reynolds said. "What happened to you when you were no more than baby, you couldn't prevent. What's happening to you now feels like it's out of your control...but you're not wrong. Or unnatural. To be any of those things would be to utterly subjugate who you are inside. Here." He said, poking Sam gently in the chest, over his heart. "This, right here, is who you are."

"And what if that changes?" Sam asked. "McKendrick... is like me... he... his eyes turned back when I said Christo. He's still a good man... or at least doing good things... what happens when that starts happening to me?"

"You are surrounded by people who love you." Father Reynolds said. "If you let us, we can help you. But you have to let us."

"No one can help me, Father. That's just it... no one can help and I don't think my prayers are getting further than the sound of my voice. I don't blame God... not really...but... I ... I think I'm already cut off from Him... I think the demon did something to make me unclean somehow."

"If you were unclean, you wouldn't be able to stand the presence of Michael. Physically, not just because his people skills are most certainly lacking." Father Reynolds said. "God hears you, He just might not answer in the way you want when you want." He sighed, it was the right answer, the correct answer, and the true answer, even if it wasn't particularly helpful. "We can help you if you let us."

Sam shook his head. "How?" He asked again. "I have to just hold on to things until this demon is dealt with... that's all. Dean can't handle this on top of everything else. So... I have to just be strong right now. It'll pass. Pain always does."

"If you had broken your leg instead of your heart I'd agree with you." Father Reynolds said. "And you wouldn't let Dean get away with this crap, why do you get a free pass?"

"Because Dean isn't a freak." Sam said and looked toward where he was practicing. "He's a hero... like our dad."

"What makes a man a hero?" Father Reynolds asked. "The people around him. He wouldn't be here now if it weren't for you. How many times have you saved your brother? How many people have you saved or helped find peace? A monster doesn't do those things, Sam."

"Don't they ? I've seen monsters save people... when it suited their purposes. Dean... he does it because it's right. Because he can and someone hasto. It wouldn't occur to him to ever stop doing it. Me... I tried to get out if it. Resented it. Most days I still do. That's not a hero. "

"Not all heroes embrace their task as openly as your brother does. And I'm willing to bet he's plagued by doubts and fear from time to time." Father Reynolds said. "Resenting something doesn't make you any less a hero. Any less a good person. It makes you human."

Sam didn't respond to that. He knew that human was something he wasn't. Not really. He didn't know what was different. But human beings didn't kill with thier minds. they didn't slam people and things into walls with their minds. They weren't singled out to be something special to a demon. Like McKendrick had said. They were alike... the same only a generation apart. The others were spare parts he had said. They had a chance to be normal. He didn't.

"You've remained Sam for so long. Why? If it was all predestined and you were unclean, you would think you'd run for the demon. But you fight him instead. Look around, this is not the work of someone without a soul, without love in his heart." Father Reynolds said. "You did not give up on them," he said, gesturing to the compound, "and I am not giving up on you."

Sam looked the man in the eyes, and they were not the eyes of a 26 year old man. "That's what scares me... people like you and Dean are going to be the ones caught in the middle when I can't fight it any more."

"When you can't fight it anymore, we'll fight it for you." Father Reynolds said. "And that's all right. It's all right to let us, because we will anyway."

Sam nodded. It was meant to be reassuring, but there was too much fear in him right then to see it as such. But he understood the need to say it or even do it. He would do the same for Dean or anyone else he loved. Some how he had the feeling the good father had a lot of love to spread around the compound.

"We're a bit like a family." Father Reynolds said. "Up to and including the asshole cousin no one talks about." That would be Mickey. Priests could swear, after all, as long as they weren't taking the Lord's name in vain! "And this is what a family does, even one as highly dysfunctional as ours. We help each other, and we let each other help us."

"Winchesters are good at the helping... not so good at the letting." Sam said with a laugh. Even ifit came out a bit hysterical sounding.

"Then that is something we will all have to work on." Father Reynolds said. Baby steps. Baby steps were good. "You can help me acclimate to my new environment, with all the supernatural stuff I'm supposed to just know...priests live actually pretty sheltered lives."

Sam smiled. "That I can do." He said. "Where would you like me to start?" A much safer subject than his own impending implosion.

Father Reynolds would keep silent tabs on Sam. Some more silent than others when you factored in Deirdre, who saw much more than people thought. So for the meanwhile he was willing to let it slid. He'd made the point his door was always open. "I don't even know where to begin. Wasn't that long ago I thought spirits were for crazy people you know.""Well.. ghosts you know about. You are probably better suited to an exorcism than Dean or I, but we have done more than one down and dirty. Never quite sits right when they die afterwards. Then again... we lost our father when he was casting demons out of us... so I don't know, that's a particularly scary process."

"With exorcisms, you're dealing with powers, powerful powers, on both sides of the fence." Father Reynolds agreed. "Wherever I'm useful, I'm happy to pitch in. Though I am insisting on taking over breakfast."

"That I will more than happily let you take over. I never really cooked much. Dean always took care of that when we were growing up, and when I was in my own place... there was always Jessica." Again he looked down. "So yeah... someone else cooking is probably a good idea."

"Well, I'm amazed you got as big as you got. Because your brother really can't cook." Father Reynolds said with a grin. "It's just an example on how we can all lean on another's strength."Sam laughed. "Yeah well he was a master of grilled cheese and spaghettios. " He said. "Yeah...a lot of us around here just need to find that strength is all."

"And it is easier than it sounds." Father Reynolds said. "Trust me. Actually, that's the first step come to think of it."

"Trusting you? I do, Father. Or I wouldn't let you be here with the others." Sam said honestly. He took his responsibility for the others like him very seriously. More seriously than he took his own safety.

"Oh that's only half trust, Sam." Father Reynolds said. "You trust me not to bring harm to the community. To give comfort and support to the others. I'm still working on you though. I'll get there. I'm very tenacious you know."

Sam smiled. "Okay," He said. "I know I'm a hard case that way. I'm not real trusting in general."

"If I wanted an easy life, I would have been a plumber like my father." Father Reynolds said. "Don't worry about me, I think I can handle you. Suppose I should work on your brother too."

"Yeah, good luck with that one. Dean is... well... Dean. About the only way to explain him." Sam said. Dean didn't even trust Sam enough to let him know what was going on inside him.

"Your brother has been a caretaker longer than you have." Father Reynolds said gently. Far too young in his opinion, but that was neither here nor there. "Perhaps he thinks he shouldn't tell you anything, because it would be wrong to burden you with it. Hardly in the realm of taking care of you. Just a thought."

"I know." He said. "He needs to think about himself a little more than he does. Okay a lot more than he does. Dean doesn't have much in the way of self esteem. No matter what he does, how much he succeeds in... all he can remember are the failures."

"Well, we'll work on that." Father Reynolds said. It was such a paradox, since the older Winchester brother seemed to exude confidence and arrogance.

Sam nodded. "Been working on it for a number of years now." He said. "He blames himself for anything that happens to me. Doesn't matter if he had any way of preventing it or not. "

"He's an older brother." Father Reynolds said. "Or just a brother period. For I bet you keep yourself completely blameless and guilt free for whatever happens to your brother."

Sam frowns. "No... but everything he has been through... is because of me. He refuses to accept that. If it wasn't for the demon choosing me... none of this ... from Mom dying to losing Dad twice... to... to... being wanted by the federal government. Every scar he carries... is because there was something about ME that the demon wanted."

"So you believe your brother is just a schlub being dragged along on this?" Father Reynolds said.

"No... But he would have had a normal life... maybe a wife and kids... if Mom hadn't died trying to save me. Dean would have been an incredible father." Sam said quietly.

"He still can be. He's not that old. Your generation seems to put off childbearing and raising until at least the mid thirties." Father Reynolds said. "This is not the end of the line for either of you. I think you two still have quite the journey to go on."

"I think it's just a continuation of the same journey. A third of the host of heaven, right Father? That's a lot of demons. I don't see them stopping just because one man has a weapon that could possibly kill them. In fact, I would predict they are going to start coming for him in hordes."

"And you can't hold yourself accountable for that." Father Reynolds said. "If you really want to look at this whole situation through your admittedly skewed perspective...one could logically blame Dean for you being the demon's chosen favorite child. He was picked for the sword before his own birth. And he was born before you."

Sam shook his head. "Dean didn't choose this. He's sacrificed everything for me. " No, he wouldn't hear that. Dean was not responsible for any of this. His being chosen wasn't what triggered the avalanche. It was the demon...

"You missed the point. It's silly to blame a small child for something, isn't it? You were six months old. Dean wasn't even born yet in my scenario." Father Reynolds said. "Michael takes that free will concept too far. Of course neither of you chose this. And both of you are fighting it all. Sam, none of this is your fault. The only thing you can possibly blame yourself for is gathering all the children like you that you could find and rescue, and giving them a place to belong."

Sams eyes misted over. "I didn't choose it... I didn't do anything to bring it about but... everything that has happened to my family has been in order to protect me... It's hard to seperate the two... to not take the blame for it all..."

"Well you can't." Father Reynolds said firmly. "You can't have it both ways. There is no one to blame. Neither you nor your brother. No carelessness on his part, no evil destiny on your part...nothing brought this about. Nothing you could prevent, or see, or predict."

Silent tears streamed down Sam's cheeks. "I want to believe that... I truly do... " He didn't know if it would ever become a reality in his mind. That he wasn't to blame. Too many years... his entire life... spent blaming himself for it all.

"Then we'll work on that." Father Reynolds said. "It's a start."

Sam nodded and wiped his face as he saw his brother heading back to the compound. He knew that walk, Had seen it on Bobby and the other older hunters. Ever since New Orleans, he had seen it in Dean. The way of walking that let him move in such a way as to hide the pain they were in. Only Dean wasn't as good at hiding it as he thought he was. "He's pushing himself too hard. I warned Michael about that."

"He's a man on a mission." Father Reynolds said. "It's hard to distract him when he gets like that. Perhaps we should drug his food? Then he can sleep it off."

"No, then he will get paranoid and start going into town to get his meals." Sam laughed a little at that. "He flips out when the hospitals force him to take meds, trust me."

"Then we'll at least spike his food with mild pain killers." Father Reynolds said with a sigh, watching Dean stop and crack out a few joints against a building. He knew the training wouldn't be easy, nothing in this would be easy. But still.

Sam got to his feet then. Something looked off. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he didn't have to. "Dean." He called out and started toward his brother.

"Hey." Dean said, waving off his brother as soon as Sam started toward him. Because he knew Sam, and he knew that 'concerned' expression. He was too old to have his baby brother try to fuss and hover over him. Really he was. So to prove the point, he went to cross the ground between him and Sam, cover the distance and meet him half way. With some flippant remark about food, Sam's hair, or sex on his tongue when he hit the said ground. If it were someone else (besides Sammy) he would have given it a mark of 10 for a nice form perfect face plant into the dirt."Dean!" Sam yelled and covered the distance at breakneck speed, skidding to a halt on his knees beside his brother. He turned Dean over gently, looking him over for signs of injury. "Come on." He muttered under his breath as he checked pulse, looked under the lids of his eyes. "Dean... come on man, wake up." He said then scooped his brother up into his arms, rose to his feet,and started for the building.

"What the hell happened?" Bobby demanded when he came into the building. He was going over charts with Ash when Sam burst through the door, carrying Dean, the priest following behind.

"Dean collapsed." Sam said as he headed for the make shift infirmary. "He's been over doing it since we left New Orleans. This is all just too much, too soon for him." He said tightly.

"Dammit, Dean..." Bobby said as he followed Sam in and gathered some supplies, not knowing what they were going to find. "Let's check his front first, see if he finally snapped something in there." He said, shaking his head.

Sam lay his brother gently on the bed and started to remove layers of clothing from his brother to see if he could find what wound was the culprit this time.

Bobby helped Sam, they didn't find anything other than a few new bruises and scrapes. "I think he was just finally done wore out." Bobby said, findinga blanket for Dean. "He sleeps less than you."

"I know." Sam said with a sigh.Michael entered the infirmary and looked over at Dean. He almost felt sorry for him, except he had done it to himself. Pushed himself even harder than Michael had pushed.

Father Reynolds touched Mickey's sleeve. "I think you should come with me. This isn't the place for anything." He said, seeing Sam's face. This was the last thing either brother needed to deal with.

"I can take care of this. Would have sooner if he had sat still long enough. " Mickey said, but let the priest lead him out the door, and raised an eyebrow as it slammed shut behind him even though no hand had touched it.

Father Reynolds looked at the door for a moment, he knew who had shut it, and how. "I realize you're on a mission straight from God, and I respect that." He said. "But these are just kids. They're human, mortal, fragile kids burdened with an impossible task!"

"I told him to call it a night two hours ago." Mickey said, with a shrug. "He chose to keep going. Wanted to get it right before calling it a night." He shook his head. "He realizes how important this is, how tight the time table is."

Father Reynolds looked at him. "And were those two hours worth it? I knowyou know what these boys have been through...but do you really know? They've been charged with saving the world over and over through out their lives. They've lost and sacrificed more than anyone should have to. Can you truly understand that?"

"Yes, they have been through a lot, but so have others. It was his choice to continue to work. You sound as though you are blaming me for his collapse."

"I am." Father Reynolds said. "You told him to train or the world ends. He's not a bad person. He's not evil. And since he's not either of those things, there really wasn't a choice. He's a boy. A boy that has been carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders his whole life. And you're adding to that weight. You see a soldier, someone you can train, someone you can teach to win. Can't you see the boy behind all that?"

"Have you ever fought in a war, Father?" He asked the priest. "Have you ever been so entrenched in battle that you can't see or hear anything but blood and screams? Have you ever had to fight to put one foot in front of the other, just to get in another strike so that you might have a chance of surviving? That is what that boy has to do. If I make it easy for him, he won't be able to do it when the time comes. "

"And you just don't care how he comes out of it. Or if he comes out of it?" Father Reynolds asked. "He's not one of your foot soldiers from Heaven. He's mortal, and his body is a lot more fragile than he'd like to admit, or like for us to know. Are you incapable of seeing us as individuals? He collapsed. Because he had nothing left to give, he's giving everything he can. And even some that he doesn't have. And all you can focus on is the training. Is it your point to break him?"

"My purpose is to forge him into the man who can bring Azazel down." Mickey said. "I can heal his injuries if I am allowed to. I can heal his body completely. He is being tempered. Do you think the sword is the weapon? It's not. Dean is. Yes, I see him as an individual. But I don't see a boy. I see a man. One with the heart to do what needs to be done."

"No matter what the cost?" Father Reynolds asked. "Will he see this as all being worth it if he's just a shell of who he is now at the end of it? I know about angels. I know how task oriented you have to be. You see the big picture, all of the time. But me? I just see the ones around me. The ones right now."

"That is your purpose, Father. Your purpose is to minister to those of God's children who need you... here and now. I am not a comforter. They sent another for that purpose, but most don't hear. My purpose is to fight. " He said in a gentle tone. "And prepare HIS soldiers on earth for that fight. My feelings don't matter. I do not have free will. I don't get to make the choices, hard or otherwise. I will train him. I will keep him alive to meet his destiny. "

"You have leeway." Father Reynolds said. "In how you train him. In how you prepare him. Pushing him to his breaking point, and not pulling him back...you can heal the body, yes. But can you heal the heart? What good is all this training if he doesn't have the heart when it comes time? If he loses sight of what he's fighting for? The end of the world is such an abstract thing for us. I don't know that we're capable of imagining it."

"He isn't fighting to save the world. I can see that much in him. He is fighting to avenge his family... and for the chance to save his brother." Michael pointed out. "That is why he drives himself so hard. That is why he refuses to stop. "

"His brother is slowly going insane, and I don't know that I can stop him. Dean is his rock. His anchor in this world." Father Reynolds said. "Do you see that as well? What happens if Dean pushes himself so hard that he ceases to be Dean? Do you think we can survive Sam losing it, as well as Dean? Or is that the long term plan?"

"What is it you want me to do? Sit on him and make him stay in bed?" Mickey asked finally. "Violate his free will? I'm not allowed to do that."

"What are you allowed to do?" Father Reynolds demanded, exasperated. "Because he's going to wear himself into the ground, and he's going to take his brother with him. Did you see him lying in there? What did you see?"

"I see a man who needs healing. Which by the way I had gone in there to do." He pointed out. "I can try and convince him to choose to slow down, which I have done. Perhaps you should explain that he is taking his brother with him when he does this. Perhaps he will hear it from you... or someone else that he respects."

Father Reynolds sighed. "I'll do my best. But you've got it in his head that he has to train all day, all night, as hard as he can, if he wants to succeed. If he doesn't do that, he sees it as another failure on his part. Despite the bravado, he is really an insecure little boy looking for approval."

"Which is ... such a very human thing. To desperately seek what you already have. " He shook his head. "So... now can I go in there and heal the man?" He asked, not so much for permission but to make a point.

"It's not my call." Father Reynolds said and opened the door a crack. "Sam? Can I see you out here?" He asked.

"It's not a good time, Father." Sam said as he started to prep his own arm. "We think Dean is bleeding internally. If you could get Andy and tell him we need a doctor again ?"

"Sam. Come here." He said, his tone booking no room for argument or delay. "Please." He amended. "It's important."

Sam sighed and headed out the door. "What is it?" He asked impatiently, but he knew the priest wouldn't call him away from Dean if it wasn't an emergency. "I need to get this going so we have blood available for him when the doctor is gotten."

"Michael...Mickey...he can heal your brother. Everything, according to him." Father Reynolds said. "But I thought I'd get your permission first before he laid a hand on Dean."

Sam glared at the angel. "Yeah... he has my permission. Fitting, since he got him this way in the first place." Sam said, turning on his heel and going inside. All of his worry and fear and resentment seemed to bubble forth as anger every time he saw the angel.

Mickey rolled his eyes as Father Reynolds indicated he should pass. He went over to Dean and placed his hands on Dean's head, at the temples. "You might want to close your eyes." He said to everyone else in the room.

Sam looked at his brother's chest, not closing his eyes, not trusting enough to take his eyes off of his brother. On one level, he knew that Michael was only here to help, that Dean needed him to prepare him for the up coming battle and to save him from himself apparently, but he couldn't seem to resist the anger that welled to the surface when dealing with the archangel... patron of Demon Hunters.

"Fine." Mickey said. And went about healing Dean. The room filling with the holiest and brightest of lights as his wings became visible, and the power granted to him straight from God himself nearly radiating from him in a tangible way. There was a reason he took the form of Mickey. Because as Michael the Archangel, he was incomprehensible to humans.

Sam recognized the form even if he couldn't clearly see it. It was the form that had come to him in that place... that had prompted the visions of the sword.. had appeared at the invocation of St.Michael's prayer that he had used to push the yellow eyed demon away.

It didn't take long, as everyone squinted their eyes against the terribly beautiful light in the room. Soon it receded, leaving Mickey standing there as Dean opened his eyes with a start and looked around.

"What the hell happened?" He asked. Last he knew he was outside.

"You need a nap." Mickey said.

"Dude, I feel fine." Dean said with a scowl.

Mickey shrugged. Hey, he tried.

"You give up too easy." Sam said to the angel. "Dean, I had to carry you in here. You had torn open the... the stab wound again. Internally anyway. You have got to take it easy. I mean it. You could have died."

"Sam, I'm fine." Dean said. Bobby cleared his throat.

"Get your ass into the hydrotherapy tub for three hours. Now. Before I gather up the telekinetics to drag you there." He said.

"Come on... if you go, I will bring the beer. If you don't, I will make sure this is a dry site and hide your car keys... drain the gas tank... " Sam said. "Replace all your tapes with Pat Boone and the Pointer Sisters or something."

"Dude, I take back any defense I've ever mounted for you. You ARE evil." Dean said as he got off the bed and shook himself out. "Fine. If you promise to leave my car alone."

"We'll negotiate that on a case by case basis." Sam said with a grin, as he motioned for Dean to lead the way out of the room. "We'll grab the beer on the way down to the basement."

Mickey watched the Winchesters leave. "There was only so much I could do." He said. "He's holding onto a lot of it intentionally."

"To punish himself." Father Reynolds said, shaking his head.

"What the hell does Dean have to punish himself for?" Bobby asked in confusion.

"For every single time he thinks he let Sam get hurt. For the guilt over his father. Every time he thinks he failed." Father Reynolds replied. "I never said it was right, or sane, or even correct, but I think that's how he feels."

"He's not responsible for any of that." Bobby said with a faint frustrated growl. "Winchesters." He grumbled and stalked out of the room, not a lot more to be said. If a freaking angel couldn't make the boy see, he didn't know how the hell he could.

"Now you know who exactly you are dealing with." Father Reynolds said sadly to Mickey. Meaning maybe now Mickey had seen into the heart of of the man he was trying to forge.

Mickey nodded. "I can't fix his soul." He said sadly. "I can't make him love himself. Or even like himself. Only he can do that."

"And those are the stakes." Father Reynolds said. "He's so willing to die for everyone else, because he feels unworthy. Yet in the whole world, he's the only one worthy enough to carry that sword. Imagine what he must be thinking."

"I think he tries not to think about it as much as possible." Mickey said. "In fact, I think he tries not to think too much about anything that hurts. Doesn't succeed but I think he tries. "

"That certainly explains some of his hedonistic instant gratification tendencies." Father Reynolds said. "I would hardly presume to give you orders, but I will give you advice. When he's had enough, stop. It's harder for him to train if you're not training against him. He and Sam both have enough guilt to fuel countless wars, they don't need your constant harping and reminders on free will, how they chose everything that's happening to them. They didn't." He held up his hand. "Sam and Dean didn't choose." He clarified. "You said it yourself, Dean was the sword bearer before he was even conceived. Sam was pickedby Azazel far too early for him to make a choice. They're doing the best they can."

Mickey sighed. This human perspective was eternally frustrating. "I know that. I'm not holding them accountable for all the errors of humanity. Just trying to make them understand that your race chose to give the fallen their foot hold in this realm, not God... not the archangels. Humanity. But fine... I will go and find something else to do when he looks like he has reached the edge of his limitations." Pressing past one's limits was how limits were increased after all.

"Thank you." Father Reynolds said. "He can hardly face a fallen angel if he keeps pushing himself to the point of collapse after all." He pointed out. "And I know you don't want to enter a popularity contest, but this is a community." That was his over all job, make this into a viable community. "It wouldn't hurt for you to be pleasant to everyone else."

"I've been pleasant." Mickey protested. He had beenmore than pleasant. He hadn't pointed out a single vice, or punished a single transgression... didn't shower the place with hail or lightening when they took HIS name in vain or came within an ace of blasphemy. He had been very very pleasant. An unpleasant Mickey usually resulted in salt statues or people being consumed instantly with flesh eating diseases.

Father Reynolds chuckled softly. "I suppose you have." He said. "Now try being friendly. Say good morning. Please, thank you, you're welcome. Can I help you with that?" He said. The irony of it all was not lost on him. He, a lowly priest, was trying to teach an archangel.

"You want me to go back to pretending to be human." Mickey asked with a chuckle. "I suppose I could do that."

"Thank you. What can I say? We're human, we're incapable of truly comprehending you. It's not a flaw, but one of design that I'm not even going to question." Father Reynolds said.

Mickey chuckled. "I could explain it but I would come off evenmore callous than I do." He said. "So I guess I am off to make nice with the kids." The situation amused him greatly.

"That would be a good idea. I think they're watching a sports game, Ash managed to hot wire cable." Father Reynolds said with a twinkle in his eye. "Just don't point out that it's a sin."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Michael said with a chuckle. He didn't think it mattered much in the grand scheme of things. Right now there were more important things for those kids. Rack it up to therapy. He walked away, figuring he could handle a good game anyway.

Dean would never admit it, but the tub was doing wonders. He'd also never admit that while he was in the hospital, this was the one part oftherapy he had looked forward to. So he was lounging in the hot tub in his boxers drinking a beer with Sam outside the tub.

"So, dude, you ever gonna tell me what's going on in that fluffy head of yours?" He asked his brother as he reached for another beer.

"Nothing to worry about. Just getting used to this whole leadership thing is all." Sam said, not meeting his brother's eyes as he said it.

"You're a horrible liar." Dean said with a sigh. "At least to me. Come on, man, I'm giving you an opening to share and care, and you're not taking me up on it. Which means there's something wrong."

"Just ... still processing things is all. " It wasn't a lie exactly. Never mind the process of processing was making him nuttier than a Christmas fruitcake.

Dean had always believed that the process of processing, or processing period, was overrated. And usually made things worse anyway. But he nodded. "Okay..." He said. "What are you processing?" He'd learned from the master (Sam) how to pick at someone until they gave in.

Sam knew what Dean was up to. He had pulled it himself more than once. "Don't really know how to say it without coming across as a complete nut job."

"Then just say it." Dean said. "If you come off as a nutjob, you come off as a nut job. Just say it, Sam. Don't make me get out of this tub and beat it out of you."

"I lied... after the rescue ... I ahm... I do remember... I remember everything. Not just what really happened but the stuff that would have happened."

"Yeah, I know." Dean said. "You've let little things slip here and there you know. You're not as sneaky as you like to think you are." He said tiredly. "Memories you couldn't have, memories you should have, things like that." Like when he had locked Dean, Ellen and Ash in the basement of the road house. "Kinda hoping you'd tell me without the threat of violence, what with us being brothers and all, and in this together."

"Yeah... cause you're the only one that gets to hide when it hurts right? In this whole being brothers and in it together and all." Sam grumbled. "I just... there isnt anything anyone can do about it. You have enough going on with out worrying that I am gonna flip out and switch time lines again."

"Exactly. I'm older and I called it first." Dean said. "Dude, let me worry about what I should worry about, okay?"

"Don't you think we're a bit old for all this 'I'm older' crap? Besides, with all the added memories in my head, I have easily caught up to you." Sam said trying to make light of the situation but it really wasn't working.

"Fine." Dean said. "If I admit I'm in pain, even to myself, I might stop. And I can't afford to stop. So if I don't admit it, I can just pretend I'm not and keep going. So far it's worked."

"So far it's worked? Dean... you had to have an archangel heal you. You could have died today. You can afford to stop. " Sam insisted.

Dean scowled. "You all overreact." He said. "Dude, I'm fine. I'm in the freaking tub like you guys told me to, I don't have a bruise to show for anything...I'm fine."

"Yeah because Mickey healed your ass." Sam said again. "Dude, you were bleeding out inside. You had reopened the wound from when you were stabbed. You haven't once given yourself time to heal from anything that has happened. Hell, you left the hospital early too."

"The food sucked." Dean said with a shrug. "Come on, give me a break. Apparently I have a limited amount of time to learn how to use that stupid sword, fight a fallen angel, and save the freaking world. Because you all think I can do. I don't think I can, but now is NOT the time to prove you all wrong."

"Yeah, well, dying to prove me right is a bit extreme don't you think? You aren't going to be facing this thing alone, okay... I'll be there beside you, just like always. We always come through things together. So cut yourself a little slack here okay?"

Dean sighed. "Fine." He said, then he grinned. "But man do I have some payback to get. You know, when Azazel confiscated my body...he didn't feed me. Not once. And he listens to crappy music on top of it."

"Well at least you will be able to get that." Sam said with a laugh. "One of these days the other one will rear his ugly head again I am sure of it. But he is easy to spot. Just follow the track of devastation. Azazel is much more subtle."

"Yeah, I got a score to settle with the other one too." Dean said. Where to start? The fact that he was tortured for a ritual because of him? That he dared to touch his baby brother? Oh the list went on.

"Yeah... me too. I'll never be able to enter another Mc Donald's again. " He gave a funny look "Then again... may be I dont owe him for that." Just the images of all those people dying around him... and making him hurt his own brother.

Dean had to chuckle at that. "Yeah, guess so. They're overpriced anyway. How long do I have to stay in here?"

"Three hoursI think was recommended. I will see what I can do about getting aTV down here with cable attached tomorrow." Sam said. "Cause you know I am going to drag your ass down here tomorrow after training too."

"You guys are ridiculous." Dean said with a chuckle. "But TV would be good. Or a girl. Ooh, we should go pick up some non STD infested girls."

"Tell you what, you stop working before you collapse tomorrow, you might have time for Hydrotherapy AND girls. But today you are going nowhere but bed after this."

"Yes, Mom." Dean said with a chuckle. "Do I get a bedtime story too?"

"You just got one." Sam said. After all he had let it out... sort of ... okay he hadn't let it out but he had let Dean get the gist of what was going on anyway. That was enough right? He didn't need to talk about all that went with it... all he had seen and done in those memories.

"Well, you suck." Dean said. "Sam, everything's going to be fine, okay? I promise. Doesn't matter...I'll make it right, okay?"

"Dean... I love that you want to make it right... but sometimes that just isn't possible. Doesn't mean you've failed if it isn't possible you know."

"Yes it does." Dean said as he looked at the ceiling. He wasn't even truly aware he'd said that aloud.

"Dean... some things just can't be done. It's okay not to be superman. We're human ... just human. Even with my freakish gifts and your arcaic weapon... we're just men... it's okay that we can't do everything. Even for you."

"No it's not!" Dean said. "Dammit, Sam, I promised I'd look after my kid brother, and every time I turn around, I'm messing that up and you're the one paying for it. It's not okay!"

"Dean... that's not your fault. you do look after me. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't even be alive now. Hell if it weren't for you, me and all the others here like me would still be in that government facility being tortured. If it weren't for you, who knows where I would have wound up when we were kids? Dean... you take care of me. Okay, so sometimes things happen, that isn't the important part. The important thing is I always ... ALWAYS know that you are gonna be there to get me out of it. It's what big brothers do. And they don't come any better than the one I've got."

Dean shook his head. "If I had been able to keep you out of government hands, would you be as messed up as you think you are right now? If I was able to stop you from being possessed, think things would have been better?" His father died for him. Twice. And he didn't think it was worth it.

"Dean... you died 3 times trying to keep me out of government hands. I chose to let them take me. That isn't your fault. I chose to let it happen." He said, not letting himself think about how insane it sounded. "The possession... please... you got possessed because of me. I think we broke even on that one... and as I recall... I hurt you a lot worse than you hurt me... Don't you dare blame yourself for things that no one could have changed or controlled."

"Sam..." Dean said and sighed. After his brother's confession, he knew what Sam meant by 'dying three times' already. "I shouldn't be picking up the pieces, or cleaning up my mess. I should stop everything from breaking in the first place."

"You're not god." Sam said. "You can't stop things from happening. It's not like when I was a kid and you could keep me out of harm's way. We're hunters. I'm going to get hurt... what I am... means I am going to attract trouble. The kind that neither of us have any way of stopping. And you weren't cleaning up messes or picking up pieces... you were saving me."

"I get hurt too, because I'm a hunter, I don't see you giving me an easy pass for that." Dean pointed out, gesturing to the tub he was lounging in as a prime example.

"Yeah... you get hurt. I get hurt, Dad got hurt , Bobby gets hurt. It comes with the job... by the same token... I don't see you giving Dad hell for all the injuries you took when you were hunting with him. Why should you take the blame for mine and let him off the hook for yours?"

"Because I saved up all the guilt for when he died. Twice." Dean said honestly.

"Dude, I am seriously thinking I am the sane one in the family. And that's a scary thing."

Dean laughed. "Yeah, maybe you are. I'm not discounting that yet." He said with a chuckle. "If nothing else, you fit right in."

Sam laughed. "Yeah... I do... Just...Dean, I worry about you. Okay?" He added. "So even if you don't think you need to take care of yourself or you think you don't deserve to take care of yourself, just remember, I need you around. Just think how much trouble I could get into without my big brother here to bail me out."

Dean sighed. "Fine. I'll work on it." He said. Most he could do, some habits were just too ingrained, and some scars just ran too deep.

"You do that... and I'll... try and sort out my head a little more... I'm gonna be okay though. Nothing for you to worry about there."

"It's more likely the Pope is going to become a Satan worshipper." Dean said with a chuckle. "But nice try. Really. Nearly got me there."

Sam laughed and handed his brother a beer. "I'm not that messed up." He said. "Close but not quite to the point of no return yet."

"Well, that's why you got me around, right?" Dean said. "Because if anyone is going to push my brother into total insanity, it's going to be me. And it's going to be because of spoons, Nair and itching powder."

Sam laughed again. "Nair... so not recommended. I'm keeping my hair no matter what you and Josh think."

"Yeah, yeah." Dean said. "Promise I won't shave it in your sleep. So don't let that be an excuse not to sleep."

"My excuse not to sleep ... is the fear of dreaming." Sam admitted, looking to the floor.

"Yeah, well, mine's the fear of closing my eyes and missing something." Dean said as he stared at the ceiling. "Either way, it sucks for both of us."

"It's funny... you would think that this place... would make things easier." Sam said. "There are hunters and other people like me all under one roof... I shouldn't feel like a freak here... but I do."

"Sammy, even without the Jedi mind powers and the whole Dr Who time travel business, you're still a freak." Dean said with a chuckle. "Just now you're an amped up freak is all."

"Nice." He said in return, grinning a little. "So how does it feel to beall He-Man like now? "

Dean grimaced. "It sucks." He said. "Because, like He-Man, I can't even use it to pick up girls. What's the use of that? Because I think 'you know, I'm going to save the world' is actually a pretty good pick up line if it's believable anyway."

"Yeah but the only pick up you will get with that line is the men in white coats and the hug me jacket. " Sam pointed out. "Face it... our reality is insane."

"You're right." Dean said with a chuckle. "It's completely and utterly insane. Wonder what life would have been like if we were normal?"

Sam chuckled. "Boring... you wouldn't be able to get a date because girls share information... and they don't like players... me... I would be a Tax lawyer by now. "

"That is such a crock. If girls didn't like players, there wouldn't be players because there would be no one to play with." Dean said with a laugh. "Tax lawyer, huh? I don't know, maybe when all this shit finally calms down, we can pretend to be normal for a while."

"And do what?" Sam asked. "I don't know... maybe you could get a job as a bouncer in a strip club or something... mechanic... Can't see anything else keeping your attention for long. "

"Dude, you make me sound like Dad should have doped me up to the gills with Ritalin or something." Dean said as he grabbed the towel. His three hours were up, and that's all Sammy was getting, for threatening him into this thing in the first place. Sure, he felt better now, but still. He had his big brother dignity to hold onto.

"No...but you and normal job just dont mix." Sam said with a laugh. "You'd go insane without a hunt. Face it. "

"Hey, mechanic is a normal job, hate to break it to you." Dean said with a laugh as he sat on the edge of the tub as it emptied and dried himself off

"Yeah, but if you do it in an auto shop you will have to work regular hours and you don't do regular hours."

"Okay. Point to Sam." Dean conceded. He'd lived this irregular life for too long. As had Sam, but Dean didn't have an overwhelming need for mainstream routine. He had his little routines that worked for him. "So, you think we'll both sleep tonight?"

"No... but it's worth a shot. " He said as he handed Dean a bath robe. "Can't be any worse than any other night." He proposed.

"Oh, that's encouraging." Dean said with a laugh as he pulled on the robe. Then he changed his boxers underneath it. "Okay, so guess we'll try. Though seriously, I'm gonna start waking you up for my morning torture session."

"Yeah okay..." Sam said. "What am I supposed to do that early in the morning? Be your cheerleader or something?" He asked with a grin.

"No, just share in my misery." Dean said with a chuckle. "Maybe look for a suitable cheerleader for me."

"Yeah ... that's gonna happen." Sam said grinning a bit. "How about if I just throw my pillows at you and we call it good?"

"Oh, that's supportive." Dean said. "What happened to the Sammy that worshipped the ground I walked on and followed me everywhere?" He teased. "That Sammy would get up at 5 am with me."

"That Sammy was 5." Sam told him. "I think big brother worship ended at about 12." Lies. He still worshipped the ground Dean walked on. Dean was his big brother. The best big brother a guy could have. But there were limits to reasonable worship. And getting up at 5am to watch him go off to swing a sword ... well... that was a bit girly... even for Sam.

"Bitch." Dean said with a laugh. "Fine, I get it. Sammy wants to sleep in. If you actually manage to fall asleep, I'll even let you."

"You better, ya jerk." Sam said with a genuine laugh of his own. He doubted he would sleep through the night. It hadn't happened since New Orleans.

"Well, either you sleep, or sooner or later you collapse. And if you collapse, you're vulnerable to Josh if I happen to be busy. Which you know I will be." Dean said. "I'm talking buzz cut, dude. See, I joke about it. Joshua? He'll do it."

"Dude, that's worse then my threatening to steal your keys.. that's right up there with threatening to paint the Impala day glo yellow or something."

"Whoa, I'm not the one threatening you. Leave my baby out of it." Dean said with his hands up. "I'm just saying Joshua will take advantage of the situation is all, so it's in your best interest to get some sleep."

Sam laughed. "Uh-huh." He said. "Right... you have just as much of a fixation with my hair as Joshua has. Don't think I wont guess who put him up to it." Although Sam figured after the farm house incident, most people didn't want to risk waking Sam up in his sleep.

"I don't have to put him up to anything." Dean said with a laugh. "I'm completely innocent this time out."

"Yeah, there's first." Sam said, with a teasing glint in his eyes. "You haven't been completely innocent since the age of 12."

"Okay, you've got a point." Dean said with a grin. "Come on, Sasquatch, let's get some shut eye before people start waking us up."

"Yeah. It's worth a shot." He said as he moved toward their room and opened the door. Maybe sleep was a good idea. It had been an emotional day.

"And if push comes to shove, I'll just knock you out." Dean said with a grin as he changed into actual sleep worthy clothes when they got back to their room. "Though, gotta tell you, for big savers of the world we are, on paper it's pretty pathetic. We're in our twenties. We live out of a car. And we share a room. Maybe we should invest in bunk beds." Dean joked.

"No wonder we're both single." Sam said with a laugh. "The only thing worse would be if we lived in our grandmother's basement and supported ourselves selling alien artifacts on eBay."

"You're right. It looks much better now." Dean said as he adjusted his pillows to where he wanted them. "Night Sam. And if you snore, I'm shaving an eyebrow off."

"You're the one that snores." Sam said as he slid between the covers and rolled over on his side. "And then complains that I'm not sleeping." He said with a grin.

S&S&S&S&S&S&S&S&S&S&S&S&S&S&S&S&S&S&S&S&S&S&S&S

Life went on in the compound. Ash and Andy helped Bobby scavenge for supplies, Josh was put on food patrol with Father Reynolds. All the big and little decisions were left to Andy and Sam, as Dean trained. And trained. Until he thought his muscles were going to snap off and go on protest in Cancun.

Mickey worked on his people skills. He watched ball games. He said hello and thank you. But it was a work in progress.

Dierdre smiled seeing Mickey in the corridor. He was different. Even more different than the rest of them. She wasn't sure if she believed he was an archangel or not. He was too nice to be an archangel. The others like her.. .well... she pretty much believed like Sam did, that they were all tainted some how. Didn't figure anything holy like an angel could stand to be in the same room with them. But whatever he was, he was different... and he had healed Dean. Sohe couldn't be bad. She walked up to him and held out a wild flower to him.

Mickey stopped and looked at Dierdre, but took the flower with a nod. "Flowers are amazing." He said. "No two are exactly alike, not really. And with so many properties beyond beauty." He said idly.

She nodded, like people, she thought but didn't say. So many different possibilities. Even the most poisonous plant could be used to heal... she wondered if it was the same with people.

"People are like that." Mickey said. "Where I'm from, everything is so black and white. Good, evil, pure, not pure. Down here...everything is gray. Even now, after all this time, I'm not used to it. I don't know how you all exist so well in gray."

She tilted her head a little as she looked at him, not sure she could handle a world that was so black and white. She didn't see the world as gray. Too many colors... beautiful colors in it to be gray. In fact, very little in the world was gray to her way of thinking. Gray was an excuse, a cop out, a way to walk the line between what you knew you should be and what you feared you would become, because one was too much work and the other meant losing all that you were.

"You're right." Mickey said. "I was over simplifying, I guess. People are colorful. You...you're blue." He said, going with the train of thought. It was 'normal' right? And oh so utterly human.

She smiled, she liked that. Blue was such a soothing color. It was nice that he saw her as that color. She also liked that she didn't have to speak for him to understand her. Speaking was... frightening. Things happened when she spoke, terrible things, and then they had demanded that she speak so much in that place. Thinking was simpler... so much less ... bad. She supposed that most would think the angel was white... a gleaming unbearable white, but she didn't see him that way. He was more golden.

"So that's why you don't talk." Mickey said with a nod. Made sense. "Maybe we should get you a dry erase board or something. Or ready made signs. Like, we're out of Pepsi. Or if you all don't shut up, I'm throwing something."

Dierdre laughed at that. It was a sweet laugh. She liked the idea of the last one, even if she was more likely to run out of the room than throw things, she still had the impulse to do so.

Mickey grinned, the image was amusing. He was letting Dean sleep in. He had underestimated the man's dedication to getting the job done, and they couldn't afford to lose valuable time while he recovered from another collapse. So a few hours extra sleep was in order, at least in Mickey's estimation.

"So, golden? I can live with golden, such as the case is." He said with a nod. "The ones like me, we're rarely as pure as Raphael tried to make us out to be."

She raised an eyebrow and tilted her head, trying not to laugh as the image of babies with wings and cloth diapers crossed her mind. She shook her head. No... angels were not the stuff of infants and harps. They were destruction and protection. Infants were something to cherish and protect, not something to be in awe of... not even with wings.

"Some are." Mickey said. "Your other choirs, they're far more gentle and peaceful. I wasn't made that way."

She wondered if he would rather be of a more peaceful and gentle variety. She would. But she wasn't made that way either. None of them here were. Bobby and Dean probably started out that way... the priest was the only one who had managed to stay that way though. But those three had a choice. None of the rest of them did. They were what they were. Now it was just a matter of whether or not to take the gray scale cop out or find their true colors.

"But you do have a choice." He said gently. "You may not have had a choice on what has happened to you, or what situations you'll be put in," he'd been forced to bend on that view, much to his amusement really, "but how you'll react, you have a choice. Maybe you can't choose your color, but I think you can choose your shade."

She hadn't even known that she had been different before being picked up by the government for their experiments. She had learned that she could control people at government hands. The government and the yellow eyed man that Sam said was a demon. She had thought he meant it metaphorically until recently. Dierdre had been told exactly how horrible her kind was and powerless she was to fight it. She believed that. At least about herself. Hence the silence. Her only control over it as far as she knew. So in that regard she supposed he was right.

"Dierdre, you know whatI am. I have no free will, I do as I'm commanded. I do what I've been created for. I'm an archangel. Even more, I'm pretty much the chief archangel." Michael said. "If you were evil, or any of you here were evil, do you think I could let you be? That I could turn my back and just let you all live? Obviously no one's been turned into salt, and lightning hasn't rained down from the skies."

Deirdre's eyes clouded over and she held back the tears with the practiced ease of one who knew that tears were a punishable offense. She had killed people. Caused them unbelievable pain. All in the name of self preservation because she could have fallen silent from the beginning and let them hurt her or kill her instead. She had free will. She had chosen... and that choice was something she could never forgive herself for. It was easy to cloud it over and get through the daily life with the lie that she had been given no choice, but underneath it all, she knew the truth. She didn't think even the priest could absolve her from that darkness.

Mickey looked at her for a long moment as she tried to stop her face from crumpling. He'd learned a few things about humans over the eons. They liked to be touched, even when they claimed they didn't. He pulled her to him. "You are not dark. You've had dark things happen to you, but trust me. If anyone here can see darkness that needs to be smited or punished, it would be me. And I'm not, am I?" He said. "Lapis lazuli. That's a nice stone."She began to sob then, tears that hadn't fallen since the first few days of her capture. She didn't know if it was a cleansing cry. She had heard of such things. Never really understood how bawling could cleanse anything except maybe the eyes. But it was a relief to let it out. Like the valve on a pressure cooker really.

"It's all right." He said. "Whether you really believe in God is your choice," though he couldn't ever understand how that could be optional, "but know He's given you a great gift. Hope."

How could she be standing in the embrace of an angel and not believe in God? That would make no sense. No, she had always believed in God. It was why she found the priest's presence so comforting. But since the nightmare had begun, she had found it hard to believe that God could still love her, or accept her. How do you ask forgiveness for something that is a part of you? It would be like asking forgiveness for being tone deaf or color blind. Would she have to ask forgiveness every day? It was too much wrap her brain around so she hadn't.

"There is nothing to be forgiven." Mickey said softly into her hair as she cried. "He never stopped. And neither did you, so there is nothing to forgive."

She had chosen herself over the others she had made do things for the lab's benefit. She had chosen wrong... she didn't know how that could ever be alright, but here was an angel telling her it was okay.

"It's all right." Mickey just kept saying soothingly. "It really is darkest before the dawn. You can't see it now, but things do get better, even if they seem like they get worse first."

She wiped her eyes. She didn't know if things would get better or not, but she supposed Mickey of all people would know better than most. But then again he was an angel. His idea of getting better after seeming to get worse could be waking up in heaven after a horrific death. And the way the world was going. Horrific death was entirely possible.

"That's not getting better. That's heaven. A whole other idea." Mickey said, smoothing back her hair and meeting her eyes. "Better on this world. You'll see it."

She looked into his dark eyes and smiled a little. She found a little hope there. The angel wasn't as insensitive as he pretended to be... or perhaps thought he was. Warriors weren't two dimensional after all. Not even those without free will.

"Shhh." He said. "Don't tell anyone, or write it or anything. I do have a reputation as an impossible hard ass to maintain you know."

She smiled then and made motions of crossing her heart. She wouldn't tell anyone. She didn't think it would take them much longer to figure it out on their own, if they would only look.

"Eh, they won't. They like the image they have of me. It helps their world make sense." Mickey said with a shrug. "Whatever gets them through the night I guess."

She didn't know if they liked the image or not, but they certainly clung to it. Although she suspected that was because most of them felt at least a little as she did, but at least half of them... half of them were bitter. They hadn't figured out who to blame for what they had become or been forced to do. So God was the top candidate. Not for allowing it to happen, but for allowing the demons to exist in the first place. Sam was one of those. So much torment in those dark eyes. She felt sad for Sam. She didn't think he saw hope in anything anymore.

"He sees glimmers of hope. In his brother, but that's about it." Mickey said. "He seems to have his whole existence wrapped up in Dean, it's hard to seperate the two. Would even be stupid to try. But unfortunately, he has to 'fix' himself."

She nodded. It was still sad. But there wasn't anything anyone else could do for him. Except for maybe Dean, but she wasn't sure how much help Dean would actually be since Dean was as broken inside as Sam was. It was so obvious in his eyes. She wondered why more people didn't look at eyes. Not just at their colors but into them to what was behind them.

"Because they're afraid to." Mickey said. "They need Sam to be whole. And for Sam to be whole, they need Dean to be whole. Admitting there are cracks in either one of them means their whole reality could crumble."

She knew that it was natural for Sam to be their leader. it was hardwired into them all. Something the demon had done she was sure. To make Sam the leader of his little army. She had to wonder how many others there were out there that would have that natural pull ... a charisma that they would all find hard to resist. But thoughts like that brought the nightmares back.

"Relax. For right now." It was the most he could promise, the most he could assure. "Right now you're safe. Nothing is coming into this compound." Certainly nothing demonic. Not with him here. It wasn't ego, but there was a reason why demons remained outside of Heaven's light. Because they couldn't defeat him. They'd tried, and failed each time. So for right now, this compound he could promise was a safe haven.

She nodded. That would have to do for now. In fact, it was better than she'd had in a good long while. She just hoped that it stayed that way. She was grateful to him for talking to her, for hearing what she would have said if she had believed it was safe to say it.

"If it ever does help, if you miss the sound of your own voice, I can guarantee your abilities don't work on me." Mickey said. "I'm a whole other sort, remember?"

She smiled and nodded. Although she had been told that their abilities didn't work on each other either. But she wasn't ready to cross that line yet. It still frightened her to even think about it.

"Then again, silence does have its merits. Most of the people around here are far too loud for unnecessary reasons." Mickey said with a chuckle.

Dierdre nodded emphatically at that. She suspected it was because they were forced to be quiet for far too long. At least that was what she thought. Then there was Sam and Dean who seemed to be making up for the world they couldn't really see, with each other and as much noise as they could surround themselves with. Non stop banter to make up for friends they didn't allow themselves to have.

"You might have a point there." Mickey said. "Though it does get irritating. At least from my view. But a little world is being made, right here in this place. It can be enough if everyone lets it."

She would have thought heaven was a noisy place, even if supposedly peaceful and idyllic. What with all the non stop singing of praise going on. But then what did she know? Interpretations of a place never seen by men long ago dead, probably wasted on the wrong mushrooms in their cream of mushroom soup at the time.

"No, I don't think it was drugs. Though many of them did imbibe on wine a little too much for their health." Mickey said. "And they were writing down a beautiful story. Heaven is...indescribable and incomprehensible to mortals. As it should be."

Dierdre nodded. There wasn't much to say to that really. He knew what was there after all. She didn't know if it was a place she wanted to be or not, but she knew she didn't want to go to the alternative. It was supposed to be worse than anything one could endure on earth and she had been through things she wouldn't come through a second time... Hell was equally incomprehensible to her, but fear was a better motivator than promises of eternal peace and servitude to God.

"Couldn't tell you. I look at heaven from a far different perspective. Everyone here thinks it's a reward. Me? It's home." A home he saw far too infrequently, really. But archangels, at the top of the hierarchy of angels, were also the closest to humans. Location and proximity wise anyway. Sometimes, it seemed like he really was a soldier the way humans viewed a soldier, on an extended tour of duty in a foreign land.

Everyone that had ever gone to Sunday school was taught that heaven was a reward. That even the slightest smallest sin was enough to cause you to lose that reward. It seemed a bit extreme to her. All or nothing, but she supposed that a perfect being with absolute authority had the right to be picky about who got to be in his presence after all. It just seemed extreme to cast those that didn't share his perfection into eternal torment. She regretted the thoughts as soon as she had them. With Mickey, those thoughts weren't so private and she didn't want to offend him. Not out of fear of him but more out of consideration. She knew she should fear the archangel but the only person she really feared (government officials not withstanding) was herself.

"All those rules...they were written by Man." Mickey said. "To instill fear and control, it's the way of Man. God is a lot more lenient than people give him credit for. To be banished from His light and to go to hell...it takes a lot, Dierdre. A lot more than even you think yourself capable of. And while everyone should strive to live a good life of charity and generosity and goodness, drinking to excess, premarital sex, shoplifting, justifiable homicide...it doesn't damn you. He looks more at what's inside you."

Once more she hoped that he was right, and couldn't see any reason that he wouldnt be. There were a lot of people in the compound that could use a bit of a reward after all they had been through. Things they hadn't even taken steps that would accidentally bring it all down on their heads. It was good that there would be some peace eventually. It was the word charity that gave her pause for a moment. It brought to mind images of the priest, and suddenly her eyes widened. She was late!

Mickey chuckled and release her. "Run along." He said with a grin. "Thanks for the chat."

She smiled at him, beaming happily. She had enjoyed their talk, even if she had started to cry all over him. She waved to him as she left, hurrying off to find the priest.

Father Reynolds was humming a tune, something by Buddy Holly, as he went through the food they had, making a list for Joshua on his next field trip. Flour, eggs, things like that. Much to the dismay of several of the residents there wasn't much frozen food going on, it was cost prohibitive after all.

Dierdre rushed into the galley with an apologetic look on her face, she motioned with her hands first to indicate talking and then flapping wings.

Father Reynolds laughed, though he was sure Mickey would be less than amused to know that in Dierdre's pantomine, he looked like a chicken. "It's quite all right. I was just going through what we have and don't have." He said. She didn't look distressed or upset, so Mickey had apparently been gentle with her. Which was good.

She offered to take over the writing part if he wanted so that he could spend his effort digging in the cupboards and things. Things had gotten much better in the kitchen since Father Reynolds and Sergeant York had arrived.

He handed Dierdre the papers and hunched down to go through the bottom cabinets. "Cereal." He said, for her to put on the list. "So you and Mickey had a good chat? Good. It was probably good for the both of you."

She nodded cheerfully, and frowned for a moment then took an extra piece of paper and wrote He doesn't need to hear my voice to hear me.

"He's not like us. He's not human." Father Reynolds said. "There is a lot of myth and parables surrounding angels, especially the archangels, I don't know how it works, but I do know he's not exactly telling." He said with a chuckle. "But that's good." A real conversation for Dierdre.

She smiled again and looked up as Sam came into the room. "Hey, how are things going in here?" He asked heading to the freezer to get some ice for a glass of water.

"Swimmingly." Father Reynolds said. "And how are you today?" Dierdre had been talking to Mickey, which meant Dean got to sleep in, which meant Sam got to sleep in. Chaos theory at its best.

"Not too bad. Thinking about heading out for a bit, need anything while I am out?" Little things he could get. He would leave big shopping to Andy and Josh. Between the two of them, they could bring just about anything home.

"Bacon would be good." Father Reynolds said. "And one of those movies that just came out on video. I think everyone would appreciate it, something funny."

Sam nodded. "I can do that." He smiled. "I'm sure I can come up with something people want to see. If not, give Ash a while on the internet and he could have a whole list ready to view."

"I'm sure he can." Father Reynolds said. He'd noticed that everyone here, even the 'normal' people, were amazing in their own ways, had talents that hardly anyone outside the compound had. They were quite the group.

"But I will see what I can find at the store. I have my cell on if anyone needs me." He said as he turned to leave the room and the compound. He needed some time out ... some time out from under as well. He didn't mind the responsibility but like every other job on the face of the planet, no matter how much you love it... you need a day off. He got into the Impala and began to drive, heading past the small town and on toward the larger city. He pulled out the cell phone once he was far enough away that it wouldn't do anyone any good to triangulate his cell phone signal he dialed Allen McKendrick's number.

Allen picked up on the fourth ring. "Sam, it's been a while." He said genially. "How've you been?" Anyone could see how Allen was. As front runner on the presidential trail, his every move was documented.

Sam smiled. "Not bad really. Just thought I would check in to see how you were doing... really doing. You're doing great politically I see. "

"It's tiring." Allen said. "And weird to always be watched. I get the paper, and some TV station is taking my picture. I didn't think getting the paper was that interesting. But it'll be over soon enough. I can't wait."

"Then you will be in the White House and they will be scrutinizing every thing you say and do even if they don't get a picture of it. Are you sure you really want this?"

"I do. Inspite of all of that." Allen said. "It's been my goal since I was in second grade I think. Most kids wanted to be astronauts or baseball players. Me? I wanted to be president. It's worth any sacrifice of privacy."

"Then I hope you succeed. Someone should get thier life long goal after all. " He told him, He would never get his. His lifelong ambition was to be normal. "Almost wish I was there with you... almost." He added. "All that publicity would be very bad for me."

"I'll get you and your brother your pardons." Allen promised. After all, Sam had to have a clean name. And unfortunately at the moment he and his brother came part and parcel.

"Thanks. I would love to say that I don't want to take advantage of the situation, but I can't afford to be that selfless right now. It would take a huge weight off my shoulders not to have to worry about the government coming after us. Still have nightmares about that one."

"I don't blame you." Allen said. "I can tell you the general congress knew nothing about it." Because if they had, Allen would have voted against it, and brought it out to the public. Because it so easily could have turned against him, and he would have ended up in Sam's shoes.

"I really appreciate it. Once things are cleared up... who knows? Might need to network a little again. I'm good at paperwork after all." He said with a laugh. He had liked the job with McKendrick, in spite of the constant pain in his head.

"You know you can just call me. I figure the first year I'll have enough paperwork to go around. And there's no networking like networking with the president, right?" Allen said with a laugh. "I know you're not going to tell me where you and the rest are, but do you have everything you need? Anything I can shunt over to you guys?"

"We're good." He said honestly. "Doing better than I had thought we would. Especially considering everything people have been through. We have everything we need. Thanks for offering."

"Okay good." Allen said. "Gotta tell you, though, I miss being a senator already. I'm never 'off', everyone's always expecting a soundbite they can quote. Either the media, or my own campaigners, looking for something catchy to put on an ad. It's tiring."

"You ever consider just... ditching the masses for a few hours or maybe even a weekend? You can take yourself off the radar." Sam suggested. "It's not that hard to fade into the wood work. "

"Wish I could. But this really is a business of out of sight, out of mind. I'm coming into it late as it is." Allen said, mournfully. "So guess you'll just have to have the vacation for me."

"Well... things will calm down once you are in office. Otherwise every single president to date would leave office in a hug me jacket."

"Oh, I'm sure half the top secret diplomatic conferences at Camp David are invented, just to regain sanity." Allen said with a laugh. "Listen, I have to go. More stumping. Take care of yourself, all right?"

"Always. Talk to you later." Sam said as he hung up. It felt good to talk to someone who honestly understood. Even if there were others in the compound who were tainted like him, McKendrick was the only one that actually seemed to get Sam- to understand what drove him. Although it was a little strange to consider a presidential candidate as your friend.

He part the car in front of the department store and wandered inside.

"Can I help you?" One of the salesmen asked as soon as Sam walked in, shadows flickering a bit in the racks and shelves.

"I'm just looking for the video department." He said. "I can find it. Thanks." He looked toward the shelves and wrote it off. Sometimes shadows were supposed to be there after all.

"All right. Call us if you need any help." The salesman said as he moved away. The man at the counter started smacking the sound system as it crackled a bit.

"Damn thing. I think we need a new one again!" He called out.

Sam nodded, wondering if he were still in the hicks or something. The place was so dark. He found the DVDs back in the back of the shop and started browsing the comedy section, losing himself in thought as he tried to find something that wouldnt bring up strange issues with any of the people.

"Personally I find the Saw collection hilarious." A man said, right in Sam's ear. His very tone was serpentine and silkily smooth.

"Never bothered to watch them." Sam said. His blood ran cold in that moment but he didn't bother looking to see if the man's eyes were yellow. "Nothing but torture porn with very little redeaming value. Not good enough to enjoy, not bad enough to make fun of. "

"I get great joy out of their screams, even if it is acting." He said. "Let's take a walk." And it wasn't a request.

Sam laughed softly, even if it wasn't a humorous sound. "I don't think so."

"I'm amused that you think you have a choice." The man said. "I crawled out of hell. Do you think you stand a chance against me? Especially since Michael isn't here? And your brother isn't here to save you either."

"My dad crawled out of hell too. Not so impressive when a human can do it." He said as he picked up a movie to look at the case with one hand as he fiddled with his cell phone in his pocket with the other. "What do you want? Other than to get me off some place alone ?"

"Put the cell phone down. You guessed my game plan. Now come quietly, or come with a fuss, I don't care." He said, grabbing Sam's arm.

Sam looked around to see who all was in the shop and figured he could take the fight outside and started to walk toward the back door. He wasn't going to go quietly. Neither did he put the cell phone down. He dialed Bobby's cell phone number but took his hand out of his pocket leaving it there waiting for an answer or a hit to his answering machine. It would some clue as to when what ever was about to go down went down.

It had taken him a while to come back. And he wasn't at 'full strength' yet. But neither was his rival, so that was all right for the moment. They'd both cashed in serious favors to walk the Earth again, no one, even with the last name of Winchester, was going to stand in their way, as he followed Sam outside and grabbed him quickly once he was out.

Bobby answered his cell phone. "Hello?" He said. "Hello?" No response. "Damn kids." Then he heard something in the background. So he stayed on the line, his hunter sense tingling worse than Spiderman's spidey sense had ever tingled.

"I'm not going to make this easy on you." Sam said as he flung the demon off of him and into the wall. "You don't have your government goons doing your dirty work anymore. "

"I don't need your government." The demon sneered, as Bobby listened closely and motioned for one person to grab Ash (to track down the signal) and another to get Dean.

"I'm leaving now. And not with you." Sam pointed out as he began to back away from the demon. He knew it would be a miracle if he got out of this situation, but he would be damned if he just laid down and took it.

"You act like you have a choice." The demon said. "As if you really want to stay. Play savior to a bunch of lost kids, I'm offering you more than that. And most of all, I'm making you take it."

"You're offering me more? All you are offering me isa chance to be your slave, to become a drone from hell. " He continued to take steps backwards.

The demon grabbed Sam by the shirt front, pulling him forward until he was nose to nose with Sam, seemingly growing in stature as he looked Sam in the eye. Yellow eyes to dark eyes. Nose to nose. Smirk to grimly set jaw. "You don't have a choice."

David hurried out to the clearing where Dean and Mickey were training. "Dean... Bobby sent me to get you. He said it's about Sam and you have to hurry."

All Dean heard was 'it's about Sam,' and he was running back to the compound, spiking the sword into the ground on his way. Let the kid out of his sight for two seconds and something obviously happened. "What?" Dean said, bursting into the room where Ash was already setting up shop.

"Sam went into town to run some errands." Bobby began hating having to tell Dean, but he did, not sparing any details. "Ash is triagulating his cell phone signal, we're gonna find him."

Dean paced. And watched Ash, who ignored Dean. "He's got my car." Dean said, covering his worry for his brother with worry for his car. "Okay, get me a set of keys, I'll find him."

Mickey came in and shook his head. "Not an option." He said.

"What? I don't remember asking you." Dean said.

"One of the two demons has him." Mickey said. "So, other than Sam, who's someone that one of the demons wants?"

"He has a point." Bobby said. "Let the rest of us take care of this one." He said looking pointedly at the archangel, as if to say if Dean was staying put, then Mickey was damned well going.

"What? No." Dean said. "Absolutely not. That's my brother out there. I'm not going to sit here on my ass and twiddle my thumbs and wait for everyone else to take care of it. No way. Deal with it."

Bobby nodded, not having really expected anything less, but he had to give it a shot. "I'll gear up. But I gotta tell ya we are going to be getting short shrift on this one. I don't believe for a minute he is going at this alone. He has to know that Michael is here training you."

"I doubt he's going to work with Tamiel. Those two have a serious hatred for each other. Trust me, I had Azazel in my head for a bit, I know." Dean said. "Fine, we'll go. Though I think you guys should stay behind, protect this place."

"There are more than two demons in hell, son. " Bobby pointed out. "Ash and the father can help the others seal this place up tighter than a drum while we're gone. Nothing is going to get in here. "

"I got him, but he's moving. " Ash said as he poured over the screen of his mangled lap top.

"Then we better move too." Dean said, grabbing the keys to Bobby's car. "I'll dial you up and you can play GPS for us."

"Works for me." Said Ash. "Don't forget the sword." Mickey told Dean as he started to hurry past. "It's too soon to do this, you know. You go out there, you will die today... and if you fail, the human race fails with you."

"Got it." Dean said with a shrug. "So I won't fail. But if I sit back and something happens to Sam because I didn't try, I'd rather be dead, human race be damned. So thanks for the training and all. Guess we'll see just how good a teacher you are."

Bobby picked up a bag of gear and started to walk with Dean. He wasn't letting him take on this demon head on by himself. He didn't know what the archangel had in mind, but if he wasn't there on the scene when the time came as far as Bobby was concerned, he could take his feathered wings and stuff them.

Mickey shot Bobby a leveled glare for that one as he followed Dean out to retrieve the sword.

"I know you care for your brother." Mickey said. "But you need to think this through. Taking him on now? You're not ready."

"I don't care." Dean said. "I swore I'd watch out for Sam. And when he gets in messes like this, he counts on me to help him out." He'd said so himself. As childish as that thought sounded to even Dean. He picked up the sword and looked at it. "Look, either I'm meant to do this, or you've had the wrong guy all along.""Dean, don't waste your time arguing the point." Bobby said. "We'll get Sam back, let's go." If not, then he suspected all three of them would be going down. But it would be better than living through the aftermath.

Mickey shook his head, but followed them to Bobby's car. And got in the backseat. He didn't know where Azazel was. And right now, he needed to stick close to Dean, to ensure Dean at least had the chance to take on the fallen. With him in the backseat, any minor demon that was sent after them would run the other way and not interrupt them.

Dean got in the passenger seat and dialed up Ash so Ash could send directions as he got them. "Who's idea was it to let Sam go into town alone?" He asked tightly.

"Sam's. Don't know if you've noticed this Dean, but Sam is not a little boy anymore. He's a grown man that can make his own decisions." Bobby pointed out.

"Wrong answer." Dean said. "It was Sam's decision to go to town. It was the rest of you who let him go alone." He pointed out. "Just because he's an adult doesn't mean he has the right to make bad, dangerous decisions!"

"Yeah? Seems to work for you." Bobby grumbled. "And your old man. " He shook his head. "We are not going to make Sam live in a plastic bubble."

"If we have to, yes we are." Dean shot back. He looked out at the passing scenery through the window and shook his head. "Sam's different from me and Dad. He deserves better than this, but I can't protect him if he won't let me."

"And you are going to give him a better life by wrapping him up in cotton batting and making him feel like he is inept?" Bobby countered.

"If I could, I would." Dean said. "Because he'd be alive, right? I shouldn't have let him drag me back out into this all after new Orleans. He was starting to have a life, you know. Maybe none of this would have happened."

"Do you ever stop to listen to the words that come out of your mouth? " Bobby asked, incredulously. "What is it with you Winchesters? Is there anything in those hard heads other than concrete? " He shook his head. "I know it's hard for you boys to accept but sometimes ... sometimes life is out of your control and you really are helpless to stop it. Your friend back there talks an awful lot about free will. Well, the down side to free will is everyone has it and while the Almighty can't interfere with it, the demons and so called humanity could give a rat's ass. Bad things happen to good people and it's no one's fault but the son of a bitch dishing it out. You need to get a grip on this before you face that yellow eyed bastard. That's the first thing he is going to use against you. Your own goddamned guilt. So suck it up."

Dean turned in his seat until he faced Bobby. "Suck it up? Suck it up? All I've been doing is sucking it up. My whole life is nothing but one big sucking it up. Do not tell me to suck it up anymore or I swear I will punch you." Dean snapped. "I may have 'chosen' to do this, but I don't 'want' to do it. I'm tired, Bobby. I'm so goddamn tired." He ignored Mickey as the archangel cleared his throat at that. "This is what I have to do. Saving the rest of the world doesn't mean anything to me if Sam gets sacrificed along the way. So you suck it up. Both of you."

"What you have to do right now is face that demon." Bobby said firmly. "And you can't let yourself focus on how you think... and believe me, it's only you that thinks that way... how you screwed it up in the first place. You can't give the son of a bitch ammo. If you do, both you and Sam are gonna die tonight."

Dean clenched his jaw at that. "Fine." He bit out.

"It will be easy." Mickey said. "Not the fight part. Certainly not that part. The clearing your mind part." Dean was untainted by the demons, the archangel could help with that. If he had had more time, he wouldn't have had to.

"If you can help him out here, now would sure be the time to do it." Bobby said looking at the Archangel.

"No it wouldn't." Mickey replied evenly. He'd give Dean a chance to do it himself. If, when the moment came, Winchester couldn't do it, then Mickey would do it. And that was that. No roughneck hunter was changing his mind on that one.

Dean rubbed his temples as he turned the radio up to alleviate his headache, checking his cellphone for directions. "Can't you drive faster, Bobby? Come on, I know you can drive faster.""I'm driving 85 now. Once we get the final location, I'll put the lead in it." Bobby said. He didn't like the idea of back tracking. He doubted the yellow eyed bastard would be harming Sam. Sam was the worm at the end of the hook as well as the prodigal he wanted to bring home. Counter productive, and that demon was anything but counter productive.

Dean's knee bounced as his boot tapped on the car floor. Worry, impatience, anticipation all in one. They were lucky it was expressed in just his knee. He could have been rocking the whole seat, if not the whole car with everything bundled and bunched up inside. "Fine." He said, staring at the cellphone and willing more directions to come through.

The cell phone rang and Bobby wouldn't have been surprised if it hit the roof of the car as Dean jerked into motion to grab it."Okay...they've stopped moving." Came Ash's voice "Gotta say though, I think it's a trap. Big time trap. You can't tell me he doesn't know Sam's cell is on."

Dean ran his hand over his face. He'd been thinking that the entire time as Bobby drove. "I know." He told Ash as he relayed the directions to Bobby. "I don't have a choice though. Not a real one."

"I know man. Its Sam...He'd do the same for you... just be careful. I do not want to have to deal with what he will be like if you come back in anything less than perfect condition, man... your brother... he's one scary son of a bitch when you get hurt."


	8. Chapter 8

They followed the directions for hours until finally they were on a dark back road. Dean was out of the car before Bobby even stopped and the next thing everyone heard was Dean punching the window out.

"Son of a bitch!" He yelled, though it had really nothing to do with the pain in his hand, and all about the lone cell phone on the front seat of an abandoned car, no sign of Sam.

Bobby took quick steps to Dean's side and swore softly. "We're gonna find him." He said to Dean, resting a hand on the young man's shoulder. He had no clue how they were going to do it but they would. They had to. Not just for the boy's sake either. Sam goes down and the others at the compound would fall apart.

Dean's whole body was rigid as his jaw twitched. "We got nothing." He said. "I have no idea how to find him. I can't...we can't lose him, Bobby." He looked at Mickey. "Tell me you have something, or just get your ass back to the pearly gates."

"I might know someone who does." Mickey said not liking this idea in the slightest. It was obvious that the conversation alone was making him uncomfortable.

"Then let's go." Dean said and headed back to the car. "Come on, you know someone, about time you started pulling your weight on this one. Let's go."

"No... you two wait here or drive back to the base. I'll go alone. He won't stick around long enough for me to ask any questions if I walk in the door with a pair of hunters. No matter how drunk he is."

"Come on." Bobby said to Dean. "We'll get some coffee, and some food. We're no good to Sam if we're strung out and passing out from hunger. You knowhow to find us Mickey."

Michael nodded. "I won't be long." He said andstarted walking down the road, fading from view as he went. He reappeared on the other side of the country, and strode into the bar. And sighed. It was much as he had expected. He walked over to the bar and took a seat. "It's been a while." He said to the man in the next seat over.

The man looked at him briefly before signalling for another shot. "That's putting it lightly. A while. How do you define a while? A year? Two years? Three eons? What's a while?" He said as he tossed the shot back. "You know what really sucks? I can drink and drink and drink. I never black out. I never pass out. I've been working on this bender for a month now. Can't seem to get the hang of it."

"That's a long standing problem with you. Can't seem to get the hang of a lot of things. " Mickey said. "Can't even get the hang of this whole evil thing. Word is you are looking to get brownie points with the Almighty."

"I was never evil. You're so black and white, Mikey." He said, slamming down his shot glass as it broke. "Dammit, another one. Okay, look, all I did was not take a side. You know what I did in the Kingdom? I recorded. I was a record keeper, a history writer, what did I know about wars other than how to write them down? Though I sure learned, didn't I? Give me credit, I picked up fast on that one. What do you want?"

"It is that black and white up there. You know that." He sighed. "Look... I need your help. Azazel has taken some one... and I need your help tracking him down."

"You need help. You need my help. That's...well, that'ssweet." He said as he pounded the bar to get everyone's attention. "Hey everyone! Look who stopped by to see me! It's my brother Mike. He hasn't spoken to me in ages. But now he wants me to help him rat out our other brother that he doesn't speak to either. Everyone, three cheers for Mike!""Come on... don't do this." He said in hushed tones. "Look around this room, Vretil. These people, this place. Humanity at its most mediocre. Yet you love it, you love the idea of humanity... do you want to see it all end? "

"Ben." He corrected. "You got a name that would blend. I didn't. So I changed it. It's Ben for this mortal lifetime, got it? What do you want from me? What are you going to offer me? False promises of putting in a good word for me? I'll pass. So unless you want me to buy you a lap dance, leave me alone. You were good at that for ages upon ages."

"Ben... if we don't find this boy, armageddon is going to start. Is that what you want? And no one has to put in a good word for you, He sees everything you do. I thought you would be willing to help since you care so much for these people, but I guess I was wrong. Guess you've fallen further than I thought. " He turned to walk away then.

Ben got up and grabbed Mickey, dragging him outside. "I didn't fall. I was kicked out. You just lump us all into the same category." So did Lucifer for that matter. "I don't interfere. I can't. I don't know if interfering is the smart thing or the really stupid thing. His guidance has been turned from me for a long time now. I just observe. Ever recording. You think I haven't wanted to stop things from time to time, help other things along? But unlike you, I don't have guidance. I'm stuck with this free will, and the fear to use it. Go home. At least one of us can."

"You want guidance... have you asked for it? Have you tried to earn it back? This kid... his brother holds the sword. He is barely trained, but the kid is tainted, I can't find him because he is tainted. Azazel's chosen. And you know why. If this kid is turned, or killed, humanity hasn't got a chance. Because his brother is so co dependent on him that losing him will break him. I'm sorry this all interferes with your inability to get drunk. But I need your help... humanity needs your help."

"Have I asked? For longer than I'd like to remember. But even I got sick of hearing my own voice." Ben scoffed. "Fine. Azazel has him? That really sucks. Could be worse, could be Tamiel, or one of the others. And his chosen one is the brother of your chosen one. And Lucifer always thought he was your biggest rival."

"Vre- " he sighed, "Ben... please." He said. "The boy's life may not be hanging by a thread... but his sanity is, and the fate of this world is handing by that same thread."

"You have no idea what my immortal life has been like the last few millenia, never mind the last century. Maybe I want it all to end." Ben said. "Fine, I'll see if I can find him. If you do me a favor."

"Yes, if I can." He said, meaning it. He couldn't give definites. He didn't have that much free will.

"There was a woman...her name was Abigail. Where did she go?" Ben asked. "And I'll know if you're lying to placate me."

Michael's face softened. "I took her home myself." He said honestly. He had thought of talking to his brother at the time but it was too soon. It wouldn't have been received well.

Ben looked away. "They've been using her, you know. At least her name. To get me down there. I've never been, never wanted to. And sure, they lie. But sometimes they don't. I had images of them interrupting your process to lure me. It's picked up lately, they're trying to solidify all the forces they can. They count me in their numbers, because you don't. Armageddon? This is worse than armageddon."

"You have free will... I can't even begin to imagine what that is like... but I think the lack of guidance is the price of free will. You can still choose. You can still make a stand for what you believe."

"If she was...down there...I would have gone." Ben said. "I think I'm the only demon who still talks to God. Hoping one day He'll answer, but not really expecting it. This brother, your little soldier. Can he do it?"

"Yes... if he had time to prepare... and a cool head about him, yes." Michael said. "And you aren't a demon. Not really. You have to fall all the way for that. You aren't an angel either... you're stuck in between. I don't envy you that."

"It does suck. Big time." Ben said. "I'll go look for him. See what I can find out. Like I said, they consider me family. Though I actually think I'm more like that third cousin who no one talks about or something. Where will you be? My locating skills are...rusty." From disuse and no need or want to use them.

"I'll wait around here." Mickey said. "Easier that way." He figured there was a chance he could trust Ben, but anything that followed him out, could follow him back to the compound "Maybe I'll see if there is anything behind that bar that will do me any good." He sighed.

"Arnie!" Ben said, waving over the bouncer. "Tell Stella to give him whatever he wants." He looked at Mickey. "See you soon." He said as he walked down the alley and disappeared. Reaching out and finding Azazel, because he could. Because according to the powers that be, they were on the same side. "Now, I thought you had a thing for women. This is quite the surprise."

"Well, well, well. Never thought to see you around here. This is just... an errant child." He said as he left Sam Winchester in the care of his less than human minions. "What is it you want?"

"Haven't heard from you in a while. Considering the harassment I was getting from you earlier, silence bugs me. Makes me wonder what you're up to. No good I know." Ben said as he lit a cigarette. "Covering my bases as best I can, as usual."

"Well I'd start covering your ass as well, brother mine. You keep saying no and when the time comes, you'll get shut out of there too. That'snot a place to be."

"Well, wow, when you put it like that." Ben said. "No. Besides, how great a place can hell be if you keep crawling out of there?"

"Doesn't matter much how bad it is down there. Hell is coming up here, course maybe that's what you want, all things considered."

"Still running that line." Ben said, shaking his head. "I'd hoped you'd come up with something different. But imagination has never been your strong point. Just checking in. Now that I know where you are, I can stay far away."

"Enjoy it while you can. It's not going to last much longer. " He said as he turned to go back to the semi-conscious Sam Winchester. "Now where were we?" He said.

Ben rolled his eyes and walked out, and back into the bar. "Is his special kid tall, dark floppy hair, big feet?" Ben asked as he settled on a stool.

"Yeah, that's Winchester." Mickey said, setting aside the alcohol that had absolutely no effect on him. "Please tell me the kid is still breathing." He didn't think even he could salvage Dean if Sam were already dead or turned. "And not sporting yellow or black eyes."

"He was breathing. That's all I can tell you. He was unconscious." Ben said. "So does the brother know that he's pretty much damned to hell through no fault of his own?"

"No." Mickey said. "It's possible for him to redeem himself... but he has to want it and right now, Samuel doesn't want it. He isn't embracing evil... he's fighting it with all that he's got but there is so much anger in there."

"What can I say? Daddy's big on the tough love." Ben said, taking Mickey's discarded drink and finishing it for him. Then he grabbed one of the waitresses' pads and wrote the location down. "This is where they are. They're not alone. Lots of minions around. Hey, didn't I hear about Tamiel AND Azazel possessing two brothers? Same brothers?"

"Same brothers. Their father gave his life exorcising both of them the same night." Mickey said. "Tamiel is out too, keeping a low profile, and with him that worries me. But that's another battle for another day. I need to get back to Winchester so we can go and get his brother."

"Good luck." Ben said. "Keep me appraised. I'm...interested...in how this turns out. Might get another book out of it." He wrote history books for a living, a skill he'd been divinely endowed with.

"I will. Thank you." He added and turned to leave, fading away only to reappear next to Bobby and Dean. "Here's the location."

Dean gulped down the coffee he'd been nursing and took the paper from Mickey, getting up in one smooth movement. "Then let's go." He said, heading back toward Bobby's car.

Bobby shook his head. "What are we walking into?" He said as he too got up, just much slower than Dean.

"My source says he has minions around. Sam is unconscious, I suspect demonic minions not merely human ones."

"Sounds like fun." Bobby said with a sigh as he saw Dean pacing impatiently outside the car. "Is that sword going to cut through everything? Nice short cut if we can use it."

"It can." Mickey said. "Me going along will chase away the lesser minions. Unfortunately I am forbidden to take on Azazel. Things are set in motion that I can't stop now."

Bobby scoffed. "Stop now? You haven't made much of a move to stop anything in this whole mess on your own. Why should you start now? As long as Sam's alive, Dean will do his job."

Mickey sighed. "You know... my involvement on earth... has set boundaries. Unlike you, I don't get to go say, 'Sorry Dad, won't do it again', and get my slate wiped clean." Mickey said as he started walking toward the car. Things were happening at the wrong times. Someone was messing with the divine plan and it was going to send things spiraling downward. There was no stopping it.

"Fine." Bobby said, accepting that. "Doesn't make it any easier on him though." He said as they got to the car. "Come on, you ready or not?" He asked Dean, who got into the front seat.

"Your source says Sam's okay, though. Right?" Dean asked.

"He said that Sam was unconscious. Didn't get a chance to see more than that. But Sam plays heavily in Azazel's plans... He won't kill him."

"How do we know we can trust your source?" Dean asked. "Just asking. Because obviously he's not one of you, or you would have been able to find him without help. Means he's either human or demonic. Either of which probably shouldn't rate high on the trust ladder."

"He rates high enough. Higher than most, not as high as he should have been." Mickey said. "If by some strange quirk it turns out to be false information, then I know our next stop." And it would be a strange quirk. Vretil may have lost his place in heaven but he stayed out of hell's ranks better than most humans he knew. And that was noeasy feat for an outcast angel.

"All right." Dean said as he reached back and grabbed the sword as Bobby drove. Made sure his shot gun was loaded with holy rounds. All the little preparations to keep his mind off where Sam was and what was happening to him.

Sam groaned as he came to and looked around. His blood chilled as he realized he was in a room full of demons, hanging from his hands in the center of the room. This was not good.

"Finally you're awake. Just in time for the fun to start." Azazel said, his eyes glowing golden in the dim light. "I've invited some friends over, I knew you wouldn't mind."

"Actually I'm not in the mood for a party." He said tugging at the chains attached to his wrist, even though he knew it was futile. "So I think I'll just go onhome if you don't mind."

"Don't mind at all, even if you are the guest of honor. We've even provided entertainment. But if you want to leave, go ahead. Leave." Azazel said, mocking Sam.

Sam swore softly and paused to try and focus. "What do you mean entertainment?" He demanded not liking the sound of that at all.

"Family reunion." Azazel said with a smirk and glared at his minions. "You stand your ground, no matter who walks through the door. Or what."

"No." Sam growled and the walls around him seemed to shake. He knew what was coming... or more to the point who. Sam didn't know if he had faith in Mickey, but he definitely knew he was real, and knew the reaction the prayerhad on Azazel in the past. "Sancte Michael Archangele, defende nos in proelio. contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium.Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur: tuque, Princeps militiae coelestis, Satanam aliosque spiritus malignos,qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo,divina virtute, in infernum detrude. Amen." He managed to get out.

Azazel grimaced and winced, taking a step back. And his minions cowered. "Stand up!" He said. "Michael is powerless here. He can't do anything but watch!"

"Would you prefer something else in latin?" Sam said lashing out with his mind atAzazel, willing him backwards. "I will not allow you to hurt him."

"What makes you think I'm going to hurt him?" He asked with a smirk. "And your abilities don't work on me. I gave them to you. I am your master, if you want to think of it that way."

"Go to hell." Sam growled.Mickey looked up from the back seat and smiled. "He's awake." He said. "And he gave me a loop hole. I can keep him safe until the job's done... " He said feeling the pull of the prayer from Sam.

Dean gave Mickey an unbeliving look. "Then what are you waiting for, dude?" He asked. "Go do it."

He disappeared from the car with the sound of rushing wind, and appeared in the warehouse with the same sound, striding through the lesser demons, ignoring their shrieks as he moved to stand behind Sam.

Azazel, through his host, glared at the archangel. That was the price for falling as far as he did, the loss of the heavenly body given to him by his creator. That was fine, he and the others had found ways around that one. "Leave." He bellowed. "He's not yours."

"He's called upon my name." Michael said ashis wings unfurled. "He is mine to protect. Tainted or not... he is human, and redeemable."

"Who's going to protect your little soldier?" Azazel shot back. "Poor Dean...his whole life he's been someone's soldier. First his father's, now Father's. And you've left him defenseless to protect my tainted, warped creation. All I need is Dean to die, get out of the way permanently, and then I win."

"If that were all it took... you would have won by now. " Michael said as he closed his wings around Sam, protecting him. Dean and Bobby would be there shortly, and things would escalate. It was the entire reason sam was trussed up as he was. It was for Dean's benefit, to distract him.

"It breaks Sam all the more if Dean dies either defending him or by Sam's own hand." Azazel said with a grin as he watched Mickey. "Your boy is going to come at me with a sword and I'm going to gut him."

"I thought it was Luc who had the problem with Pride." Michael said. "Don't worry about Dean. He will be better able to handle things if he is not distracted by what Azazel tries to do to you." He told the younger Winchester who made motions to object to the Archangel's protection. "If it were as easy as he seems to think, he wouldn't be spouting his drivel. He would leave it stand."

"It doesn't matter. Once Dean is out of the way, everything is doomed, right? Isn't that what you've pounded into that poor boy's head? You're worse than his father. He's mortal, Michael. And like all mortals, he will fail."

"You aren't the first to plan this, Azazel. Those who have come before you have failed and died at the hands of mortal men. You will be no different. " Michael said.

Dean and Bobby came in then, and Dean saw how Michael was sheltering Sam. And appreciated it. Throwing off his jacket he raised an eyebrow at Azazel. "No more talking. I heard you talk enough in my head."

"You think you can take me on and win?" The demon asked. "You've had that sword what... a week now? Have you figured out which end is the pointy one yet? I've got millenia of experience killing with a sword. Put it away, for once in your life, make the smart decision."

"Not likely." Dean said. "So why don't you just shut your mouth and let me show you which end is the pointy end."Azazel took a few steps forward his own weapon materializing in his hand. "You always were the one with more guts than brains."

"Blah, blah, blah." Dean said. "Oh I'm sorry, did you say something?" He said with a smirk as he swung at Azazel, not a real swing, just enough to get Azazel to move.

Michael watched Dean carefully, nodding as the combat continued, watching as the two danced around each other. baiting each other physically and verbally.

One thing in Dean's favor...he knew how to fight dirty. And actually preferred it most of the time. So even when Azazel managed to knock the sword out of his hand, Dean managed, through low down tricks against a mortal body the fallen was wearing, to retrieve it before he lost his head. Literally. Azazel wasn't pulling any punches, and neither was Dean.

Though he did imagine this battle occuring in a wide open field, maybe with a few tufts of fire about for decoration. Possibly a scantily clad hottie waiting in the corner to wipe his brow and give him words of encouragement. But no, he was in a building. No mistakening that as he was shoved to the wall time and time again. But Dean lived most of his life with his back against the wall, fighting his way out. This was no different, even if the stakes were a lot higher.

Every bone and muscle and fiber in his body was aching. This wasn't some fifteen minute fight choreographed for the big screen. This was more a test of endurance than anything else. He swore even his hair was feeling pain. His hands were numb, but clenched around the sword as he swung and ducked and jabbed until finally one of his jabs hit home in a big way.

Azazel looked at Dean in shock then over to Michael, for the first time questioning the wisdom of his choice. The blackness that had once been a literal child of God, created by His hands and welcomed into His presence, erupted from the man's body, and fell to the ground as bits of ash.

Dean coughed and rolled onto his back. He was gasping like a man who had just run a marathon for hours, his hands finally relaxing and releasing the sword. "Sammy?" He managed to get out as he tried to catch his breath.

"Dean!" Sam yelled out, struggling against the chains, impatient for the angel to release him. Once the chains were free from his wrists, Sam nearly sank to the floor with his first steps, but managed to keep going to his brother's side. Mickey and Bobby exchanged glances and simply nodded. They had to get the brothers out of there and quick.

"Hey." Dean said to Sam. Okay, his brother was all right. So he passed out. Bobby cleared his throat.

"It's just a nap, Sam." He assured Sam. "We got here a little past 6. It's almost midnight now." Letting Sam do the math on just how long that fight had gone on. Dean, for lack of a better word, was simply tired.

Sam nodded and placed a hand on his forehead. He had a concussion and some aches and pains himself but nothing that he hadn't endured before without so much as a glance in the mirror. "Let's get him home." Sam said as he knelt down to help pick up his brother. "Let me... please." Michael said, resting a hand on Sam's shoulder. He picked up Dean's sword and sheathed it, where his own usually hung, obscured, and hefted the young man into his arms.

Bobby watched and fished his keys out of his pocket. "Come on, we've got a bit of a drive ahead of us. You all right Sam?" Bobby asked the younger Winchester.

"Concussion, bruised ribs, couple scrapes. I'm good. Not up to driving though, sorry." Sam could have driven if he had to but right then he wanted to stay in the back seat with his brother.

"Don't worry, I've got the driving." Bobby said as Michael put Dean in the backseat. "I've seen how you and your brother drive, and I like mycar. You coming with or going off?"

"I need to go ahm... see my own brother." Mickey admitted. "I'll pick up the Impala on my way back to the compound."

Bobby was surprised that Mickey was coming back, but didn't argue as he got Sam into the car and sat alone in the front seat.

Ben was in a coffee house that had internet hookup, with a lap top, chatting with an online friend.

ProfessorV: I'd say your friends were successful.

DrBadAss: Huh?

ProfessorV: LOL. Trust me, I got sources just like you. Your friends are coming back, safe and sound.

DrBadAss: How did you know they left?

ProfessorV: I have my sources.

DrBadAss: That's my line.

ProfessorV: I'm older. I said it first. Deal.

Mickey took a seat across from Ben. "ProfessorV, huh?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

Ben raised an eyebrow in return.

ProfessorV: BBL. My brother stopped by for a chat. For someone who hasn't wanted to know me in nearly forever, he's certainly friendly.

DrBadAss: Maybe he wants money.

ProfessorV: LMAO. TTYL.

DrBadAss: Catch ya on the flipside.

"To the mortals, I'm pretty much a professor. Been writing their history their whole existence." Ben pointed out. "I suppose congratulations are in order."

He nodded. "Thank you." Mickey said meaning more than just for the congratulations. "Figured I should hang out for a bit just in case some one figured it was open season."

Ben sat back and lit a cigarette, then took a drink of his coffee before speaking. "I'm nearly touched by your concern. Your boy make it out all right?"

"Exhausted but alright. He's on his way back with his brother. So how long have you been filtering information to hunters?"

"Long enough." Ben said as he typed a bit on his laptop. "Does it really matter? Just because I'm damned doesn't mean they should be."

"No I don't suppose it matters. " Mickey said. "It's a big risk you were taking. Not that you care but ... I'm proud of you."

"Of course I care." Ben said. "Along with the free will comes the need for validation. Besides, what am I risking? I'm already in limbo. And they can't exactly kill me, cause I'm not exactly alive. If the hunters even knew who I really was, they have no idea how to deal with me."

"It's not the hunters you would have to worry so much about. It's the others... and there are worse things than Death." Mickey said. The fact that he was taking a risk to do the right thing, that impressed Mickey.

"What are they going to do? Kill my cat?" Ben asked witha chuckle. "They can't come up with any good torture. Torture is watching the woman you love die, and be unable to help her. Torture is knowing you're going to live forever outside Heaven's gates without her. I did that to myself. Nothing they can come up with to beat that. Trust me. Anything else would be a relief because it would make me forget everything else. So Azazel is gone. Can't say I feel bad. Tamiel's making noise up here you know. Might want to let him keep the sword a bit longer."

"I was considering that." He said honestly. "With the battle done there are other duties I have to perform, things that will take me away from them... maybe you wouldn't mind peeking in on them every once in a while."

"And how are you going to explain that? Here's a fellow angel I helped kick out of heaven. Yeah, like I did Lucifer, Tamiel and Azazel, but don't worry. He's not really evil." Ben said with a chuckle. "Like they haven't heard that one before, or at least along those lines."

"No reason for them to know much of anything." He said with a shrug. "Just find a reason for Ash to find out who ProfessorV is."

"So I have to do all the dirty work to take a job you asked me to take. Nice." Ben said. "I was never an archangel, Michael, listening to you was never my forte, as you can see by my current lifestyle. I don't know, there's a lecture I could arrange or something. Bring Ash to me."

"I can do that. I don't need you to be an archangel. I need you to be who you are. If nothing else the people there might relate to you better than they do me, even if they do find out."

"Fine." Ben said with a sigh. "I'll pull some strings, not that hard. The local university has me on retainer. I'll give a lecture on demonology throughout history, Ash won't be able to help himself."

Mickey nodded. "Good. He might even bring a couple of the others with him. I could see Bobby Singer being there as well, but expect him to be full of questions and opinions. The man is... different."

"I can't believe I'm covering babysitting duty for you." Ben said as he turned back to his laptop. "Let's see if he buys it."

ProfessorV: Back. Anyway, talking to a guy who donates a lot of money to my university. He's sponsoring a series of lectures on the occult and demonology. Of course I get to test the waters. If mine sells out, he'll organize the rest of them.

He looked at Mickey. "You get to use your powers of persuasion to make that happen. And my standard fee is 20."

"I'll see that it happens." Mickey said with a smile.DrBadAss: Where you gonna be giving these lectures?

ProfessorV: The University, MacAuley Hall. Guiness afterwards. Faculty Association tried to get me to do the lame chips and soda. Luckily, I won.

DrBadAss: Dude, I am so there. Might bring someone with me if you don't mind.

ProfessorV: Cool. As long as every one pays their 25 a head, you can bring a whole rugby team. TTY tomorrow, 7 sharp.

Ben grinned at Mickey. "Once you know how to talk to a human, they're amazingly easy to talk into things. You should try it once in a while." He said.

Mickey made a face. "Talking to them isn't my forte." He admitted. "In fact, the less I talk to them, the better they seem to like me."

"Well, it's because you don't like them." Ben said. "Oh you might admire their fortitude, their perservereness, and all that. But you don't really like them. You're the big daddy of all babysitters and they're the world's worst toddlers you've been saddled with. That's your problem."

"They have so much and they take it all for granted." Mickey said. "They beg and bargain and whine for things and aren't willing to do anything for themselves to get them, but just ask them and it's all HIS fault that they aren't all millionaires with supermodel wives."

"Now, see, you're generalizing. This kid, Ash, that I've been passing information to...he doesn't want to be a millionaire. He just wants a good supply of weed and beer. And he's got it. I'm not sure he'd know what to do with a supermodel wife. What he wants is his friends to stop dying from the demons and monsters and things that go bump in the night. He wants protection for them while they do the dirty work. Because he knows they don't really have a choice. Sure, they can stay home all safe and sound...but how safe and sound are they if someone's not out there fighting the good fight? Dean...he wants his brother to be safe. So he's going to risk his life to make that happen. Sam would like Dean to have a little help along the way. They're not asking for things that are outrageous, just things they need really. You're taking the MTV and BET culture and running with it in your mind. Not all mortals are like that. Humans are actually...extraordinary."

"Individuals are extraordinary. The species as a whole is like Sodom all over again." Mickey pointed out. "They revel in their darkness. Have you ever watched the evening news? How often do you see the extraordinary things broadcast there? Instead if they can't find anything vile to report they tell you what happened on the television program that is popular. Or what celebrity is sleeping around or in rehab. "

"So don't watch the evening news. I don't." Ben said. "Observe them in their element. Go into a city neighborhood, sit on a hay cart in a farm, go to the mall. The news is nothing but a grab for ratings. Seriously, Michael, humanity is so vast and unpredictable, you can't generalize it. You can't compare the Tibetans and their quiet piety to the rowdiness of the young Eurotrash and expect to make sense."

"The least annoying part of humanity I have found, other than one righteous priest... oh I know there are more but I found one willing to do what he was called to do, even if it didn't fit into the realm of normal... other than him... or perhaps inclusive of him... is the compound full of tainted souls that I can't do anything to help."

"Ah, because you can't lay your angelic hands on them and make all their cares go away?" Ben asked with a laugh. "You could...I don't know...talk to them. Watch TV with them. Smuggle them in some good booze and black market DVDs. You're already doing a lot. While you were there, no demon was attacking the compound. Not even the true Fallen. That's something. Of course, you're arrogant. And condescending. So maybe that's why they don't like you."

"I'm not here to be liked." Michael pointed out. "I was here to train Dean Winchester for the battle that just took place. Of course I haven't recieved a call home yet, so I don't know... "

"So maybe it wasn't just that battle." Ben pointed out. "Tamiel would like Dean for himself. And after the training you gave him...can you imagine? Tamiel's good with a sword. Slap him in a body that knows how to use a sword...he might even be able to take you on. How's that for a happy thought? Or maybe you're just here to arrange my lecture series and ensure that I get paid. Because that's always nice. Pays for rent, cat food, that sort of thing."

"You really own a cat?" Michael asked finding it amusing some how that his little brother, the book worm fallen, owned a cat.

"Or he owns me. It's a long argument." Ben said with humor as he pulled up some notes for his lecture. Sure, he had a photographic memory. That was part of his job. But notes helped him not skip from topic to topic. Otherwise he'd start with demons and end up with the history of spaghetti. "And I'm not sure I'm winning it either." He looked at Michael. "It's not amusing! Why are you looking like you're about to pat me on the head?"

"You are so human." He said with a chuckle. "You didn't slide all the way down to Demon, you're just a long lived human with extra abilities." He teased.

"Thank you!" Ben said with a laugh. "It's far better to be mistaken for a human than mistaken for a demon, don't you think? Especially with this crowd? They're probably going to make me drink holy water."

"Bobby Singer will. It's one of his security measures. It makes sense I suppose. Thankfully, it shouldn't affect you."

"Ah yes, I'm the exception to just about every rule, aren't I?" Ben said with a laugh. "I can't go into heaven, but I still have the body he gave me. That whole black smoky thing never appealed to me. I can even go to a church, even if I don't hear the choirs sing anymore. And in the black and white world, I guess I am a demon, yet you're going to drop me into a nest of hunters."

"In the black and white world... you aren't an angel." Mickey said. "Doesn't really make you a demon.You don't fit the black and white criteria of a demon either." He shrugged. "You are what you are. Have you tried approaching HIM the way humans do? You have free will.. maybe you have to wait out your redemption like humans do."

"I am waiting it out." Ben said. "Drinking's not a sin. Smoking's not a sin. As long as the other woman isn't married to someone else, premarital sex isn't even a sin. And I'vebeen very very careful not to create little nephalim of my own. Until He deems my redemption satisfied, if he ever does, I just stay my own course."

"I wish you well with that. I need to get going. Got to set up your lectures for you, then go back and check on Dean to make sure he doesn't need any healing."

"Have fun with that." Ben said. "No, really, try to have a little fun. The Almighty doesn't outlaw fun you know."

"It's not in the job description." Mickey said with a faint chuckle. "I'll see you around. " He said as he got up to walk out of the coffee shop.

"See you." Ben said as he went back to his notes. He had a lecture to prepare for.

S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S

Dean woke up the next morning. With a headache and overall general soreness. He groaned as he opened his eyes and found Sam staring at him.

"Seriously, dude, cut it out. Or I'll punch you in your fluffy head." He said.

"Starting to wonder if you were going to sleep for a couple of days." Sam said, still worried about his brother. He had seen the fight, he knew what Dean had gone through.

Dean sat up with a groan and rubbed the back of his neck. "I wish." He said with a chuckle. "Dude, I so earned it. And a couple of strippers too you know. You all should send me a strip-o-gram. It's the polite thing to do when I save all of humanity."

"I figure you can and will pick out your own strippers." He said. "Thanks... for coming, even if you shouldn't have." He knew that it had honestly been too soon for Dean to take on the demon, that was why Azazel had forced the situation.

"Dude, I always go after you. And find you for that matter." Dean said with a chuckle. "So what's that 'shouldn't have'? Sounds like crazy stupid talk to me." Even Sam agreed that was his job.

"He wasn't going to kill me, he wants ... wanted... me for some reason. I was just bait to get you there before it was time." Sam said. "He could have killed you. "

"But he didn't. In case you missed the big finish, I won." Dean said. "Relax. He's down. He's done. Fried burnt toast. All done. Finally."

"I know. Thank you for that too. I suspect a lot of nightmares around this place will go away. Expect to be fawned over around here for a while."

Dean shrugged. "It wasn't anything." He said as he stood up and cracked all his joints back into their proper position. He had bruises, and cuts, and scrapes, and more bruises. But he was alive. And he didn't do it to get 'fawned' over. Wasn't even an option as far as he was concerned. "You didn't tell anyone, did you? Not the whole story?" It was one thing to pick up a girl in a bar with a tale rife with heroics and danger. This was a whole other thing.

"No, Bobby did." Sam said with a smile. "And it wasn't nothing. It was a major something. You destroyed a demon. You destroyed the demon that destroyed these peoples lives, that killed our parents. Ruined our childhood."

Dean shook his head. "I don't know, tell them you did it. I'll completely back you up too. By the time I get done, they'll believe the demon was begging at your feet as you gave a mighty Viking laugh."

"Why would I do that?" Sam asked. "Come on. Let's go get some breakfast." He said with a laugh. "We'll even go into town to get it if you want."

"Dude! My car! Is my car back? What happened to my car? Sam, I swear, if it's scratched...or dented...I don't care if I just saved your ass. I'll kick your ass."

"Your car is back. It wasn't dented. The demon didn't even get near it." Sam said with a sigh. "Come on, you can go be reunited with your girlfriend."

"Dude, you flip out over your lap top. I flip out over my car. You having an affair with your laptop then?" Dean said as they headed to the car. Where he looked it over carefully from fender to fender before nodding approvingly. His baby was all right.

"My laptop is an it, not a baby, and I don't pet it." Sam pointed out. "Yes it's my favorite thing, but it's very different."

"Not a whole lot." Dean said as he got into the car. "I mean, come on Sam. This is like our childhood home! A means of transportation! Part of Dad's legacy! And a kick ass chick magnet on top of all that. How can you not love it?"

"Do you have any idea how that sounds? Our childhood home?" Sam said with a laugh. "The sad part is... it's not just a child hood home. It's our home now. Well... if you don't count the compound but I have a hard time imagining you are gonna want to stay in one place all the time."

"Come on, Sam. At the compound, I'm the freak." Dean said with a laugh. "One of the only non spoon bending people in the place. I don't know. Can I get a couple more nights' sleep first before deciding?" He teased, though his battle had taken a lot out of him.

"Take as long as you like." He said with a laugh. "I wouldn't mind staying put until the elections are handled. Talked to Allen the other day and he said if he gets into office he'll arrange pardons."

"Ah a promise from a politician. Is that along with cutting taxes, providing health care for all and keeping the aliens out?" Dean said with a chuckle as he drove. "I'll believe it when I see it. But I wouldn't mind keeping off the radar for a bit."

"Oh this is one promise I think he'll keep. He thinks he has plans for me." Sam said with a chuckle. "He can keep thinking that so long as he gets the feds off your back."

"Dude, that doesn't make me feel any better you know." Dean said. "Another chosen kid who's got plans for my brother? Oh hell no. Because somehow I don't think that he's thinking of you shuffling papers."

"He wants me involved in politics. Which involves alot of shuffling papers in the begining and finishing college. Not where I see myself any more." Sam said. He didn't think it was nefarious plans of any sort but truth be told he had one older brother, didn't really need another.

Dean laughed. "Politics." He said. "But you have such a problem with lying. Every time you have to do it for a case, you get all moody and guilty for days."

"Exactly." Sam said with a laugh. "High level politics is out for me." He shook his head. "I don't mind keeping in contact with him. Doing little grass roots things here and there.But you are not going to have a Senator Winchester any time in the future much less a president in the family."

"You'd never get elected. Come on, seriously. With me and Dad in your background? Not to mention some sketchy behavior on your own side?" Dean said with a laugh. "Glad you don't have those aspirations though."

"Thank god." He said with a grin. "Never been so glad for my embarassing childhood." He teased. "Went into tax law because I knew I'd never get elected as a DA."

"Childhood? How about two months ago? Like when we were in Oklahoma, and you were singing kareoke? That was embarassing." Dean teased back.

"You were the one that insisted that we go to a kareoke bar, and you were the one that kept refilling my beer. It's your own fault you got embarassed."

"I'm not the one embarassed. I'm the one with it all on my phone. Sasquatch Winchester singing Like a Virgin. Classic!" Dean said with a smirk. "Seriously, it's funny. And I sent it to Ash who said he could put it up on this site where people watch homemade videos. Not MySpace, that's the porn site. What's it called? Metube? Youtube? UsTube? Something Tube."

"If you did, so help me I will kill you." Sam said giving him a look. "Not just cause it's embarassing but that's not how we want the feds tracking us down."

"Oh, I don't know. Hard to believe we're this huge national security risk after seeing that." Dean said. "Don't worry, he didn't. He's holding onto it until after our official pardons. Then the Sam Winchester Hour will stream for all the world to see!"

"Oh well... insurance that I will never be elected to anything. Who knows? Even this place may rethink who they want leading after that." He laughed.

Dean laughed. "So we'll just not show it to anyone while they're sober is all." He said with a grin as he pulled up to a diner to get some breakfast. "Okay, my car is fine, you can live for a while now."

"I told you it was fine. The wall out behind the shop is in pretty sorry shape, but the car is fine." Sam rolled his eyes.

"I don't care about the wall behind the shop." Dean said with a laugh as he got out of the car. "Now, my car, I care about. I feel like eggs. Lots of eggs. And bacon."

"You can clog your arteries to your heart's content today, you've earned it." Sam said with a laugh. "Still think you are obsessed with the car and should probably see a shrink about that but what the hell, let's clog the arteries first."

"Dude, remember the last time we dealt with shrinks?" Dean said with a laugh as they grabbed a booth. "Unless it's my turn to shoot you with rocksalt, let's pass on that."

"That's what the priest is for." Sam said as he settled onto his seat and picked up the menu. "And no one seems to have any trouble pushing him my way."

"You needed to talk to someone. And you wouldn't talk to me." Dean said as he scanned the menu. "You're the one all into emoting. Not me. Don't push your issues onto me."

"Not pushing my issues, just acknowledging yours is all." Sam said, setting the menu aside to wait for the waitress.

Dean chuckled. "I'm fine." He said as the waitress came over and he gave his order. Which should come with a cardiologist on call, but Sam was right, he'd earned it.

Sam ordered something lighter but not completely in the realm of heathy food, then waited for the waitress to leave. "Yeah right... you're fine. So how much guilt did you pile on yourself because I got captured?"

"No idea what you're talking about." Dean said as he drank his coffee. "You're so melodramatic sometimes. No wonder I call you a girl."

"I can always just ask Bobby you know... " He said. "Might as well fess up now."

"I was pissed. That they letyou wander out with my car on top of it all, without any back up." Dean said with a shrug. "Supremely pissed."

"Dude, I'm not 16 anymore. I get to go places on my own. It's okay. Especially now." He said with a faint smile, although it would be even safer once that pardon came through.

"Don't give me that." Dean said with a chuckle. "Every time you go off on your own something happens. You get kidnapped, you get hunted, you get beat down, you get put in a cage for later beat downs...do I really need to go on? You're a trouble magnet."

"Yeah, like we get into less trouble together." He pointed out with a laugh. "Let's face it, trouble is bound to happen."

"Yeah, it is. At least the trouble that I look for is usually female." Dean teased as their breakfasts came. Dean's came on two full plates. "Now this is what I'm talking about. If only Josh or the good father could learn to cook like this."

"Then we would all die of heart attacks before our thirtieth birthdays."

"Dude, do you realize I'm turning thirty soon? Everyone was convinced I wouldn't live past 25. I knew I should have put seriousmoney on that one." Dean said as he dug into his breakfast.

"Yeah well, you stopped trying to prove yourself to Dad. I think that was what insured your life expectancy." Sam pointed out. "You were always throwing yourself into something's way just to prove you could do it."

Dean shrugged. "I still do." He pointed out. Except now the rationale was it was better that he took a hit, rather than his brother. "It's an adrenaline rush. And chicks totally dig scars."

"Dude, I need you around, okay? Be careful about those adrenaline rushes. I mean... you're the top gunfighter right now. Took out the big bad...you know they are gonna start coming around wanting to take you and that sword on."

"Well, that sucks." Dean said. "Because I don't think I get to keep the sword." He pointed out.

"Who knows? If you don't get to keep the sword, we are on the road again. " Sam said firmly.

"Dude, don't be so quick." Dean said as he finished off one of the plates, stopping to drink coffee. "We'll figure everything out as we go along, like we always do. It's kinda nice to be in one place more than a week in a row." Sometimes he was just too tired.

"Yeah... okay." Sam said. "But the first time they track you down, that's it. I mean it." He told him.

"Dude, hate to break it to you, but you're their leader. Not mine." Dean said with a chuckle. "I'm still the big brother."

"And if I decide to get in the car and just go... you gonna stay behind?" Sam asked with a smirk. He knew the answer to that question. "You still think I can't tie my own shoes with out help."

"You can't. And threatening to steal my car...dude, come on, I'm eating. I really don't want to put the fork down in order to stab you in the head with this butterknife." Dean said with a smirk of his own.

"It's not stealing if you are following after me to make sure I took my vitamins, said my prayers and tied my shoes with a double knot." Sam teased.

"The prayer thing...that's all you." Dean said with a laugh. "The rest, well, I guess it falls under the realm of big brotherness. Still doesn't mean I'm going to listen to you. Because I'm not."

"We'll see." Sam said, knowing that if it came to it he could knock his brother out, put him in the back seat and drive until they were well and truly off the radar again. But he wasn't going to have his brother become the next target for up and coming hot shot demons, or their minions because of some sword.

"Dude, no we won't." Dean said. "And don't even try to knock me out or anything, because that's cheap. And low. And I'll Nair your head."

"Dude, we are not starting that again. There is no practical joke war allowed. " He said firmly "This really isn't the place for it, you know."

"This is absolutely the place for it." Dean said with good humor. "You take life too seriously. All of life. And that's just wrong. You gotta lighten up a bit, stop convincing yourself that everything is going to go wrong all the time."

"I tried that once... Jessica died." Sam said with a frown. "It might change now that Azazel is dead. I hope it does, but dude, it's barely been 24 hours. Give me time."

"You always were slow on the uptake." Dean said with a grin. "Fine, I'll give you time. What was Ash rattling on about before we left?"

"He's getting to meet one of his heroes soon. This historian that he gets a lot of his info from is holding a seminar in a week or so. He and Bobby are going. Apparently he even has Bobby all tied up in knots."

"Really?" Dean said. "Bobby tied up in knots? Must be some historian. Never thought of Ash as the history lecture attending type. But however he has his fun, right?"

"This historian is apparently some sort of demon expert." Sam said. "Bobby said Dad even had a couple of his books."

"Huh." Dean said as he gestured for a refill. Books plural was rare. Usually a writer in that subject spent their whole life researching and perfecting one book, never mind more than one. "Guess he's pretty good. Or full of it."

"If Dad and Bobby collected his work, I'm thinking 'full of it' is low on the list. Bobby can spot bull shit a mile away."

"I thought it was just my bullshit he could smell a mile away." Dean said with a chuckle. "Should we tag along? College girls..."

"Sure, why not?" Sam said with a laugh. He would probably spend more time caught up with the lecture than the girls. But that was fine. Dean should be able to handle his share as well. "Thatta boy." Dean said with a laugh as he finished his second plate. "Can't be all work. You turn into a dull Sammy then."

"I was born dull Sammy." He said with a grin. "Besides, I wanna hear what this guy has to say."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Fine. Guess I'll handle the co eds myself. Hard job...especially with absolutely no back up. I could be taken advantage of, you know."

"Oh please." Sam said. "That is so not the guilt trip to use. You live to be taken advantage of by women. " It was a stretch to see Dean as the one being taken advantage of, but Sam could just about twist his imagination that direction. After all... he did believe in demons, vampires and things that went bump in the night.

"Fine, leave me defenseless to the hungry hoardes of college girls." Dean said with a sigh. "I see how it is."

"Exactly how you like it." Sam said. "I'll date again... I promise. Don't worry about me so much." He knew what Dean was after.

Dean shook his head. "Who was talking about dating?" He said with a chuckle. "Come on, what else do we need in town before we have to head back. Because after you were taken and I took my nap, you really think they won't send out the calvary?"

"Had a request for videos before I took off, was going to get fresh food for the kitchen." Sam said. "But I think it can wait. " He didn't want to be out too long. Didn't really think it was safe justyet for Dean. Azazel might be gone... but Tamiel wasnt.

"Dude, food? No it can't wait. Come on, let's hit the stores and crap and see what we can find that people might not mind eating for once." Dean said. The being that had killed his mother and his father (once, and responsible for the second time) was gone. Forever. It was going to take a lot to spoil his mood, which was beyond good.

Sam wanted nothing more than to share in Dean's good mood. After all, Jessica's killer was dead, his own fate was his own to choose now, there were many reasons to be happy and relax. But Sam knew all too well that those were the times that hell seemed to boil up with the sole purpose of of making their lives miserable. "Yeah, okay we can go shopping."

"Okay, if you're going to make it sound like a chick thing, we'll skip it." Dean said with a laugh. He had the same thoughts as Sam. This calm wouldn't last long. Never did. But unlike Sam, who stayed tightly wound and looking over his shoulder, Dean made the most of the moments like this, grabbing onto them with both hands and wringing the life out of them while he had the chance. Before they slipped away and he was back drowning under the weight. Right now, he felt...weightless.

"Okay... how about we go shoot pool for a while before we hit the grocery store? To feed that many people, we'll need some winnings." Sam said, laughing in return.

"Definitely never going to get elected, encouraging me to do all this sharking and unethical activity that then eventually leads to some sort of assault and battery." Dean teased as he paid cash for the meal. They didn't have the check yet, but he laid down enough for the meal and tip. "Come on, before you start emoting again."

"I'm not emoting." Sam grumbled. "Just hovering, you do it all the time."

"Ah, but I have the God given right as the champion of all humanity. Which includes my baby brother." Dean said with a grin.

"Yeah, well, the champion of all humanity gets to cope. Dad told me to take care of you and that's what I'm going to do. "

"He meant until I was out of traction. Which I am. Been for a while." Dean said. "You so need a haircut if you haven't noticed that."

"He didn't say anything about traction. He said to take care of you. So until he comes around again to tell me otherwise, too bad. And you can't distract me with talk about my hair, I am not cutting it right now."

"Why? No time? Because I have time." Dean said with a smirk. "Amazing what you can make time for."

"If you want to get a hair cut, be my guest." Sam said. "When it's time, I will get mine trimmed."

Dean shook his head and laughed. "Aren't you a little old for a rebellion against a guy who's dead?" He joked. It was their father's insistence on hair cuts...regularly...that Dean was sure put Sam off hair cuts now.

"I'm also a little young to be badgered into something I don't want." He said in return. "Why the fixation on my hair?"

"Because you get that expression on your face. Your face gets all screwed up like you've been constipated for weeks, and I find it funny." Dean said with a smirk as he laughed. "Hey, I get my kicks wherever I can get them."

"You need to get out more." Sam said with a laugh.

"Not denying it. It's just hard, what with me being number whatever in the top ten list of most wanted fugitives by the FBI." Dean said with a laugh. "Kinda cuts down on where I can go out, not that I really ever hung out at the post office, but you get the idea."

"Yeah, I know." Sam said. "Things will look up soon." He had to believe that. Other wise every sacrifice they had made their whole lives was for nothing.

"I know. You already said we were going to go case a college. So that's looking up already." Dean said with a grin. "I just hope this guy is on the up and up. I don't want to deal with a maudlin Ash if his hero falls off his pedastal."

"Or an irate Bobby going through all his books and getting rid of anything that references this guy's work." Sam said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, that would be bad." Dean said. "So come on. Food shopping. Which isn't real shopping, therefore not a time for chick flick moments, because it's completely a guy activity."

Sam shook his head. "Where do you get these rules.?" Sam asked with a laugh. "Totally insane."

"Only cause you think like a chick." Dean teased. "They make perfect sense."

"No I don't think like a chick." Sam said. "You think like some out dated 1970s treatis on what it is to be a manly man.With foot notes byJohn Wayne."

Dean laughed. "And that's a problem...how?" Dean said with a grin. "Come on, I'm just not Mr Tickle Me Emo like you."

"Tickle me Emo? I'm starting to think you bumped your head some where along the way, Dean." Sam said, shaking his. It was familiar banter, and it felt good. It felt safe.

Dean laughed hard. "Hey, I was stuck watching skit comedy on late night TV while you were scoring with my nurse." Dean said. "You reap what you sow, dude."

"This from the man who is obsessed with making sure I score." Sam said, rolling his eyes. "Definitely one toomany bumps on the head."

"Oh definitely." Dean said as he parked the car and got out. "I lost counta long time ago. Anyway, just for that, you can be the shopping cart bitch."

"Nice." Sam said with laugh. "That makes you the guy who runs down the aisles getting crap. Do you know how long it's been since I have done real grocery shopping?"

"Do you know how obscenely weird it is that you look like it's Christmas mornng or something?" Dean teased as they headed into the store. "Dude, we go food shopping all the time." In Quiki-Marts and such, but it was the same thing, right?

"No we grab road chow." Sam said. "This is really shopping. Jess had to teach me how to do it, I was still going for the boxed mac and cheese and canned soup."

"Nothing wrong with that." Dean said as he picked up a large bag of peanut M&Ms. "See? Look. Peanuts, which is protein. Chocolate, which has milk in it, so there's your dairy. Two food groups down already."

"Dude, it's a miracle you haven't died of malnutrition" He said shaking his head. He headed for the produce aisle. Josh and Andy took care of the major canned and boxed goods. They needed fresh.

"So I guess I shouldn't point out that if you have your M&Ms with a beer, you've taken care of grains, protein and dairy, huh?" Dean said with a laugh as he looked around the produce section.

"That is seriously demented. I prefer the pizza analogy." Sam said as he tossed in basic vegetables in large quantities.

"Hey, it's food and it keeps me going." Dean said with a laugh. "What more can you ask for?" He said as he threw some vegetables into the cart as well. He wasn't totally clueless on what 'actual' 'healthy' food was.

Sam laughed. It was hard to argue with that logic. So continued the banter all through the supermarket, as they tossed in things that were needed and things that were just for fun. Even people hiding out deserved things just for fun.

Dean was all stocked up on beer and M&Ms. Even if he knew he'd have to share the beer. Ash and Bobby certainly weren't going to turn it down, he knew. Threw in some harder liquor just in case. Along with all the healthy crap that Sam insisted on. And whipped out the credit card of one Maximillian Arthur to pay for it all. One of the last cards he'd gotten with his dad actually.

With their gear loaded into the back of the Impala, and in the trunk, they headed back toward the compound. "We have holidays coming up. "

"Oh right, we do." Dean said. "Well, how do we know everyone's christian? Are we Christian? Could have some Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, pagans, agnostics, atheists...so we should focus on New Years. That's a holiday that everyone celebrates, right?"

"Dude, how many people that celebrate Christmas are actually celebrating Christ's birth? Besides we have a priest and an angel in the group. Never was one to believe that you give everyone equal time by giving no one any time at all. People don't have to participate if they don't want to and anyone can add in their own two cents worth for what ever they believe in."

"Okay, well, my two cents is that I'll make all the drinks, but I'm not getting Christmas presents." Dean said with a laugh. "Gracing all of you with my presence should be present enough."

Sam shook his head. "Yeah, I always knew there was a reason I wasn't arrogant." He teased knowing that deep down his brother was anything but.

Dean laughed. "No, that's because I'm around to knock you down a few notches every now and again." He said. "Okay, did we get everything we needed to get for everyone? Or are we missing something?"

"The only thing I was after that we didn't get today was the movie. Father Reynolds thinks a comedy is needed." Sam said. He didn't think the movie was needed. Ash could download almost anything from anywhere. Although he figured the priest probably didn't want to know about that sort of illegal activity.

"Dude, Ash can download it." Dean said. "And if Mickey isn't against pirating movies from the internet, Father Reynolds shouldn't be either. Maybe we should get a tree. We never really had a tree." Never in Sam's lifetime. Dean had one or two memories of Christmas trees.

"Tree would be great." He said. He and Jess hadn't been able to afford a real tree when they were together, but they had a little table top tree that they had used. "We can talk to Bobby, Maybe he knows where we can go to chop one down."

"Think Zoe is better." Dean said. "She and Andy drove here, scouting for an area, odds are she took a real good look along the way."

"True. But we have to get through November first. Just a couple weeks till the elections. Who know... maybe we will be able to use our real names by Christmas."

Dean laughed. "Dude, I haven't used my real name on a regular basis in years. Since high school I think." He said with a grin. "Who do you think paid for your asparagus? It wasn't Dean Winchester."

"Yeah but I happen to like my real name." Sam said witha shrug. "Still it would be nice not to have to duck when the police drive by."

Dean grinned. "Dude, I'll still duck when the police drive by. That won't change. 5-0 make me nervous."

"That's because you have a guilty conscience." Sam said getting behind the wheel once more. "Me... I haven't done anything to worry about in recent history."

"Dude, I call bull shit." Dean said. "Recent history? Let's see...guilting your brother into a tub. The whole 'Like a Virgin' escapade. Not to mention trying to take over my car. You should feel guilty and or ashamed of all of the above."

"All done for your benefit... or because of your manipulations... I so am going to get rid of that video... " he grumbled the last in reference the song.

"I didn't pour the beer down your throat. And I didn't make you order whisky chasers after." Dean said, laughing. "No manipulations from me there. That was all you. Hey! We could all watch that tonight!"

"I will paint her pink and put in a cd player. I swear to God if you play that for anyone you will wake up with a pink car." Sam threatened.

"That's harsh." Dean said, shaking his head. "Fine, I won't play it on movie night. Killjoy. You take the fun out of everything, you know that? No Nair, no itching powder, no movies. What'sa big brother to do?"

"Other than that you're doing just fine." Sam said with a grin. "Besides, a little boredom is good for you."

"Dude, you are so misguided." Dean said. "Believe me, boredom is not good for me. Or you either really." They just had different ways of entertaining themselves was all.

"Okay... how about ... I could use a little peace and quite for a bit. Before I start bouncing off the walls myself." Sam said with a laugh.

Dean shook his head. "Okay, okay, the next field trip we'll take will be to the college to hear that lecture of Ash's idol. Okay? Nothing life risking or legally challenging in between. Promise."

"Nothing any more demonic than the late late show for a while, I'm serious... I'm getting burn out, ya know." Sam said with a sigh., He was so tired of this. Part of him had liked even the pretense of being normal while they had been scoping out Allen McKendrick.

"Okay, okay." Dean said with a laugh. "We'll hide out in the compound, watch movies, just hang out. It'll be fun. We hardly ever do that."

"Sounds like a plan." Sam said and visibly relaxed. It wasn't just his burnout he was worried about. It was Dean. He didn't want to lose his brother and he couldn't help feeling that if they weren't very careful for a while, that is exactly what would happen.

Dean chuckeld as they drove back to the compound with their goodies. "It'll be fine. Besides, if you and Andy team up, maybe Josh will back off."

"I almost feel sorry for Josh. Talk about culture shock. I mean most hunters even defer to him like Dad did. Except Bobby. Bobby was army not marines I think."

"Bobby doesn't defer to anyone. Even when you think he's deferring, he's not. He's just agreeing, which is different." Dean said. "And even Josh doesn't try to order Bobby around."

"Dad is the only person I have ever seen try and order Bobby around and that usually wound up with threats of buckshot." Sam said with a laugh.

"Exactly. And it might not have ended in a threat either, if Dad kept pushing." Dean said, laughing as well. "We've got some crazy friends, ever realize that?"

"That we do, but crazy or not they always come through for us when we need them."


	9. Chapter 9

"You don't think he could have found a closer idol?" Dean asked with a laugh. It was a few hours away, and in the scope of things, it was an easy drive for the Winchesters. But it was the furthest they'd driven in the last few weeks, because of their self imposed vacation.

And surprisingly it was relaxing, and a vacation. Though they never used the 'v' word. Because that would jinx it, they were sure.

"Yeah well, he's a lot closer than any of your idols. That would take us back out to California." Sam said with a chuckle. "But hey if you cant handle the driving..." He teased.

"Dude, I'm just saying, this far from home base...there's a lot of trouble I could get into." He teased back as the college came into view, where the lecture was being held in one of its lecture halls.

"I am pretty sure we will be safe enough attending a college lecture." Sam said with a laugh. "It's either that or we sit at home and watch the pre election crap on the TV."

Dean chuckled. "There is that too." He said. "So we'll go to a lecture, see if we can pick up any college girls...hey, what kind of girls do you think attend this sort of thing?"

"Goth... maybe pagan... a few creative writing majors who are into horror... might find a true believer or two."

"Nah, not interested in that stuff." Dean said. "Looking for cuteness, and...openess. Some friendliness and flexibility are also good."

"Right... you might want to avoid anything resembling women's studies, cause the other lecture hall is filled with women hearing a lecture on THAT subject. Trust me... just... don't. Angry chicks hyped on girl power... not friendly... Other than that... we'll find a bar while Ash is fawning and Bobby is interrogating the lecturer."

"Poor guy. Can't believe Bobby is going to interrogate him. He's going to break out the holy water too, isn't he?" Dean asked with a laugh. "A lecture just can't be a lecture for him."

"Oh probably. It's Bobby. If it wouldn't cause chaos and destruction, he would probably doctor the water supplies of major cities with holy water. "

"That would be funny." Dean said. "Hey, you think Allen can drink holy water? I mean, you can." And Sam had at different points of his life. "Not sure how I feel about a president who can't drink holy water."

"I don't know." Sam said, only because he had never seen him drink it. He knew that the word Christo made his eyes turn black, but who knew what else it meant? Who knew what point in his own life that would happen to him? "I don't care at this point. I want to get our names cleared and then we can move on from there with what ever needs to be done."

"Like co eds." Dean said seriously. "Dude, all that work, no play, they need to be rescued. And I am all about rescuing damsels in distress you know." He said as he found a parking space.

"You are all about getting laid after rescuing damsels in distress. I swear you would be happiest where they sacrificed virgins to dragons. Could see you with your own little shop set up with a sign saying 'virgins deflowered here'."

"Now there's an idea. Think they still sacrifice virgins to volcanoes somewhere?" Dean asked with a grin. "Think of all the people I could save! Come on, brainiac, time for a lecture."

Sam laughed. "I'm actually looking forward to a lecture. Never thought I would say that again."

"Yeah, I forgot, you get off on this school thing." Dean said with a laugh. "Well, he's probably older than dirt, and creaky cranky on top of it, so we might as well go in and see if we can find Bobby and Ash."

The lecture hall was full but it wasn't hard to find Bobby and Ash as they were seated near the front of the room. Ash was seated with his hands between his knees, as though trying to keep them still, unfortunately that didn't stop his knees from bouncing.

Dean chuckled at the sight as he sat down in a seat. "Ash, relax. It's just a lecture." He said, shaking his head. Though he didn't expect the lecture hall to be that full for an occult lecture. Usually only weirdos and hunters went.

"This 'just a lecture. This guy is something else. He is ... you're just going to have to see. Man... I'm here sober if that tells you anything. I want to hear everything."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Hey Bobby, you got the holy water?"

"You know I do." The elder hunter said with a nod.

"Why don't you give Ash a shot of that, I think he might be possessed."

"Man, I am seriously not possessed, I'm excited. I've been talkin to this guy for years. He is amazing."

Dean shook his head and shot his brother an amused look as some guy introduced the speaker for the night, and a dark haired man came out and sat on the stool on the stage. More like perched, like a bird about to take flight, as he started off his lecture, getting right into demonology and its history, complete with a surprisingly interesting slide show.

"Now, everyone thinks they can spot a demon. Truth is, they lost their God given form, and exist as nothing more than a vacant abyss of energy. Not to say that's not powerful. These same demons have brought plagues and wars. Hmm..sounds like angels actually. Which makes sense. All your higher demons were once angels, basking in the light of God's awesomeness before being banished. Point is, that's where we come to possession..." He said as he flipped to the more famous cases of possession in history, going on about his subject for three full hours. "Okay, Q&A session in the community hall. Or at least beer." He said as the lights came back up.

"Wow." Sam said looking over at Dean. The man was impressive. And he could tell that Bobby thought that he was far too good at his job. He figured the poor guy's drink would get watered down at some point during the night.

"He's too young." Bobby said, practically glowering as he allowed himself to be dragged to the community center. He'd expected someone older. He should have been older, given some of the dates of some of the books he had.

"Botox?" Dean suggested as they grabbed their beers, still laughing at Ash, who was like a star struck kid,

"He could just age well. You never know. Wouldn't guess this guy here was pushing 70 either, would you?" He said indicating Bobby.

"I'm not pushing 70." Bobby said with a glare. "I'm barely sixty. When I get to seventy, there will be no pushing. There will be kicking and shoving. I'm just saying I've got books dating back to before you two were even born."

"Okay... I doubt that he was writing books at 8 or 9." Sam said with a frown. "But why would one of the bad guys be giving out information for the good guys?"

"Good question." Bobby said. "Why don't you go ask him? And slide some holy water into his beer while you're at it too."

"Nice, I love you too." Sam said as he took the holy water from Bobby and pocketed it. This was going to be fun. Oh well. time to get their feet wet again he supposed.

Dean moved with his brother, and Ash. Who was nearly jumping up and down. Ben was having an animated conversation with a history professor when he saw the three hunters approach him. A glimmer of amusement in his eyes he held out his hand.

"Shouldn't water down a beer. That's rude. So just give it to me." He said, meaning the holy water.

Sam blinked and actually blushed as he handed over the flask. "Sorry." He said with a weak smile. This had to be a good sign, that he was willing to drink the holy water up front and in public. Although it was a bad sign that they were so transparent that he caught on just from them walking across the room.

Ben shook his head and drank the flask, handing it back empty and picking up his beer. "What tipped you off was him." He said, gesturing to Ash. "Remember when you got really drunk and IM'ed everyone on your buddy list that pic of you and that girl?" He asked with a grin.

"Oh yeah!" Ash said with a laugh. "Man, she was hot too." Which got Dean laughing.

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Yeah well... the reason it seemed necessary is you look way too young to have written all the books the man back there has by you."

Ben merely smiled. "Thank you." He said. "We'll cover all that once everyone is gone. It's best, don't you think? Besides, you both need some beer if you really want to hear my life story. It's quite long you know."

"Alright." Sam said with a nod, and it was true he could use a beer.So he took a seat at the table and waited for the others to decide to join him. "I'm Sam Winchester by the way, this is my brother Dean, and that is Bobby."

Ben nodded and waited until the rest of the hall had cleared out before he spoke again on that subject. "So, I don't know. You want to ask questions or something?"

Dean sighed. "Um...when were you born?"

"I wasn't." Ben said with a shrug.

Sam nearly choked on his beer. "Come again?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. That usually meant one of two things. One the guy he was talking to was full of it, or two, he was not human. But he had managed to down the holy water straight, so that ruled out demon.

Ben just grinned. "Ah, got you there, didn't I? You're waiting to do an exorcism or trap me in the key of Solomon at this point. Could be interesting. Except, of course, I'm not possessed, nor am I black and evil so the trap won't hold me. But hey, knock yourselves out!"

"What do you mean you weren't born?" Dean asked.

"I wasn't born. I was created. One day I didn't exist, the next day I did. I think I'm number nineteen out of them all, but I'm not sure. Michael was the first, he'd know. I bet he kept track. You think you have an older brother complex, you should see his!" Ben said with a laugh.

"Another angel." Sam said with a sigh. Well at least this one had a personality. And was taking a daily active part in the war. That won him points as far as Sam was concerned.

"Not quite." Ben said. "Oh I was. But then the war broke out. And anyone who wasn't on God's side got banished. Even those like me thatabstained and didn't choose a side, preferring insteadto be an objective recorder of possibly the most momentous and important moments in history. But once we were banished, we were suddenly cursed with free will. The ones you're used to dealing with, Tamiel, Azazel, Lucifer, and all their brethren, they made the choice. By fully turning from God, they lost their God given form, and were forced to possess the very creatures they despised to have any form...you. There are others like me, hoping one day the doors will swing backopen for us. And we do our part. I happen to like you guys. You're great fun. With all your choices and decisions."Sam looked to the others, remaining silent for a moment. "Well at least we won't hear how it's all our own fault because we have free will." Sam said with a roll of his eyes.

"Michael...he's still well within the grace of God. So he sees the big picture. He doesn't see trees, he sees a whole forest." Ben said apologetically. "That's just how he is."

"So you're trying to buy your way into heaven by helping us?" Bobby asked.

"Well, yeah." Ben said. "And it's buy my way back into heaven, actually. I liked it there, it was home. Besides, it's not completely self serving, it's not like you guys aren't getting anything out of it. Who do you think made sure the key of Solomon, which you love to use, was passed down?"

"That was you?" Sam asked with a raised eyebrow. "So... are there many of you guys around? Angelic concientious objectors?"

"There are a few. Unfortunately, more than a few went all 'dark side' once they heard the gates slam shut." Ben said sadly. "It's...hard...to try and find the light when you can't feel it anymore. You have no idea."

"No... not to the degree you do... But I have a little bit of an idea." Sam said with a slight frown. He knew heaven wasn't in his future and through no fault of his own. The priest could try and tell him otherwise but he was tainted. That taint wouldn't just go away because he said a few prayers and performed acts of contrition.

"You have a better shot at it than me." Ben said. "So if I have hope, there is absolutely no reason for you not to have hope, don't you think? I mean, I was escorted out personally. You were never there. Big big difference."

"I was born with the other side running through my veins." Sam pointed out, and sighed. "Well... the debate is pointless really. I'll get there or I won't. And with the choices I get to make, who knows where that will land me?"

"You're right. Neither here nor there. We'll both eventually end up where we should, whether we like it or not." Ben said with a wave of his hand. "The important thing is that there is an Apocalypse coming up. Quick too. Quicker than it should. Azazel moved up the whole time table, and it didn't just get dropped just because he was destroyed. Things are set in motion, you have no idea."

"Well if you do, it might be a good idea to share the info." Bobby said. He wasn't sure what he thought of this not entirely fallen angel seated before them.

"You would think so, wouldn't you?" Ben said. "But it's amazing, positively amazing. See, the kids like Sam...they're watched. You know that. And the disgraced angels that haven't quite fallen, we're watched too. Because we're dangerous. We know way too much for either sides' comfort, sad really. But there's more than one force at work. You know about Azazel, he was brash. Bold. Always was. Impulsive even. The others, they think far more long term, and far more covert. Not all the special kids are from Azazel. He just took credit for them."

"Do you... do you know if I was his or not?" Sam asked, starting to get worried about another bastard out there trying to control his life. Regardless he was going to have to protect the others... his brothers and sisters really, in an oddly round about and somewhat twisted way.

"You were definitely his." Ben said. "His favorite actually. Believe me, if you were someone else's, you wouldn't have been. That could have been good or very verymuch worse. There are worse ones than Azazel. Some like to fool with the plan of heaven. Like Tamiel for example. He targeted your brother because Michael chose him first."

"Okay, two male type people fighting over me, so very not cool." Dean said with a shake of his head.

"And I was chosen as well because of Michael's choices, so they were both fiddling with God's plans. He's not the best ofdemons to have in your head, you know. Lousy roommate. But okay... so there are others like me controlled by other demons... wonder if that is why Allen is different?" He said looking over at Dean.

"Oh no, Azazel beats everyone for worst roommate." Dean said.

"Actually from what I've heard, you beat them all out for worst roommate." Ben said dryly, which got a chuckle out of Bobby.

"But it could explain it." Dean said about Allen.

Sam laughed at that as well. "You dont know the half of it." He pointed out but refrained from going into details. But then sobered. "You see... another one like me... another generation of kids like me... his eyes change like a demon when you say Christo."

Ben sighed. "Now, most of the time, it's a good sign. For possession and such. But other times, watch this. Someone say it."

"Christo." Bobby said, and Ben's eyes flashed black.

"Now say pepperoni."

"Pepperoni." Ash supplied, and again his eyes flashed black.

"And the kicker, watch this. Christo." And Ben's eyes didn't change. "He might have just been signalling what he was to you is all."

"We can do that?" Sam asked with a curious tilt of the head. That could come in handy for undercover work... well... if he weren't the favorite topic of conversation amongst demons seeking revenge.

"I guess so." Ben said. "The big problem with your brother offing Azazel, is that he was holding a lot of the demons together under his rule. Now he's gone and there's chaos."

"Which means someone is going to be fighting his way up to be the big bad." Sam said. "Even demons like order. Rules."

"They do." Ben agreed. He looked at Ash. "So we still friends even though I'm not human?"

Ash looked confused for a moment. "Well yeah. You're not one of the bad guys. HellI get my best information from you. I'd have to be an idiot to hold you being an angel against you."

"Just checking." Ben said. "Look, I've been helping hunters and people like them for as long as there has been humanity. But I'm not on the inside track for information on this. I can give you an idea, some theories, of who the ones to watch for are going to be."

"That's better than nothing." Sam said. "Every little bit helps." He was starting to get used to this gray area that he existed in. He used to see himself purely as one of the good guys, then the whole demonic taint came along and twisted that image. Certainly twisted it for other hunters, as was evidenced by Gordon and his bunch. There was a faction of hunters that considered him the antichrist after all. Who was he to decide who was on what side of the line?

"Everything helps. Believe me, I've been in this business longer than I'd care to remember. No, I don't hunt. BecauseI just can't bring myself to hunt my brothers. I can't do it. It's a weakness of mine,that I let others do it for me. I'll admit it."

Sam looked over at Dean, knowing that his brother had the same hang up. God knew theyhad argued over it long enough. "Yeah I get that.But hey... you aren't an archangel either. You aren'tGod's sword arm."

"Actually, I was a holy historian. And sure, after I was banished I had the free will to become whatever I wanted. But you know what? I like it. Plus I have this awesome memory on top of it." Ben said with a grin.

"Memory, huh?" Bobby said. He hadn't said much, just always observing and piecing it all together in his head. "Might not be a bad idea for you to come with us then. You said you've got some theories."

Sam thought about it for a moment then nodded. It was ultimately his decision after all. "Yes. You would be welcome if you wanted to come with us."

"I got some time." Ben said with a shrug. "Besides I miss the classroom. The problem with being immortal, every so often you have to take a step back and build your resume back up fromscratch.""I bet." Sam said. "So yeah... I think we can arrange for people to teach. In fact I think we have a whole complex full of people that are going to need an education." They were stuck with the reality of it all they needed to learn about it all.

"Awesome." Ben said. "Give me directions and I'll drive over there in the morning."

"You drive?" Dean asked.

"Leonidas doesn't like that whole angelic travel thing. Takes him forever to calm down after." Ben said with a shrug.

"Who's Leonidas?" Sam asked, figuring it might be more of a what but you never knew with people, much less angels.

"The bane of my existence, and lately the only one I've ever really had to answer to. Needy, manipulative, hungry, greedy..."

"Dog or cat?" Bobby asked, amused.

"Cat." Ben said with a laugh.

"Yeah, holding a freaked out cat and shifting into a ball of energy would really not be a good thing when the time comes to get back into a human form. I suspect even you can feel the scrape of cat claws."

"Yeah. And they hurt." Ben said. "If I had any sense, I'd get the bastard declawed. Okay, so when do you want me there?"

"Whenever you want to show up." Sam said as he wrote down the location on a napkin and showed it to Ben. He said he had a good memory. Guess they would find out.

Ben glanced at it and then picked up his beer. "Got it." Ben said. "Now, I'm going to go schmooze the administration." He said as he got up and headed toward the group responsible for setting this all up.

Dean watched him go. "Definitely different than Mickey." He said."Yeah that he is. Kinda... humanized." Sam said as he put the napkin in his pocket then downed the rest of his beer. "But right now I think I need something a lot stronger than this."

"Bobby." Dean said with a laugh as the older hunter produced a flask.

"This more up your alley, Sam?" Bobby asked.

"They don't have a kareoke machine here, do they?" Dean asked with a smirk.Sam took the flask. "No thank god, Don't you have some bimbo to seduce or something?" He asked with a grin.

"I am shocked, shocked that you think bimbos attend a deep and insightful lecture on the occult, possession and demons." Dean said. "But I'm sure I'll find one." He said with a wink."You're here... I am sure there are female hunters here too. Who knows, you might meet someone that you can actually talk to." He said and took a drink of the whiskey.

"Sam, really..." Dean said, about to argue with common opinion of him, then decided to forget about that. "You're absolutely right. Call me when you're ready to split." He said witha grin, getting up to work the room.Sam started to tell his brother that he had said that wrong, but Deanwas off before he had a chance. He sighed and eased back in the seat. "Well... that came out wrong." He said to the rest of them. "Sort of."

Ash laughed. "No itdidn't." He said, taking the flask for himself. "I think it came out just about right actually. So you wanna grab a ride back with us then?"

"Yeah, I'll leave Dean a message on his cell phone." He said, figuring it might not do to actually interrupt the process of Deans shmoozing. He had been hovering over Sam since the abduction. He needed a night out just having fun.

Bobby nodded. Dean needed a break. He'd been wound tighter than Sam knew since, oh, New Orleans at this point. Maybe before, from that first call from Ellen about John. If he relaxed while having casual sex, then more power to him. "Besides, you should warn Andy. Not to mention Josh." He said with a laugh.

"Josh really should go back active duty." He said, shaking his head "He so much wants to be in command of something" He started to pull out his cell . "You know... I think I'm gonna get a hotel room in town." He didn't like the idea of leaving Dean alone out here.

"Dean's a big boy." Bobby said gently. "He's been screwing bimbos for nearly half his life. You could use some sleep you know."

"Might be able to sleep better in a hotel room than back at the compound." Ash said with a shrug. "It's what he's used to. I get it. I sleep much better on the bar or a pool table."

"It's not the screwing the bimbo thing I'm worried about. He still has that sword...things are gonna come looking for it and him." Sam pointed out.

"You have a point." Bobby said. "We should stick around too. In case you can't handle it as well." It could happen. Very easily after all.

"Besides... who wants to drive home tonight?" Sam said, instead calling Andy and filling him in on the evenings activities and what to expect.

"So we'll get some rooms, and drink." Ash said. "Discuss current events and pop culture, maybe have a pillow fight." He said with a grin. "Just kidding."

"Dude, that was weird, even for you." He said as he hung up the phone. "Let's go get those roomstaken care ofand I can leave a note for Dean on the steering wheel. "

"You're better off pinning it on the backseat." Bobby said with a laugh. Boys would be boys after all. And Winchesters would always be Winchesters.

"Nope he would just toss it aside. If it's on the steering wheel he will notice it when he gets around to driving." Sam said.

"You've put too much thought into that." Ash said with a laugh as he dug out the pad he was taking notes on and handed it to Sam. "I think there's a sheet or two toward the back." He'd hung onto the lecturer's every single word, and tried to jot them all down as well.

"No... no thought involved. Mistakes made and lessons learned. By the way, never assume the back seat is empty in that car. Always look." He added as he took the sheet of paper and jotted the quick note to Dean.

Dean got the note the next morning. Well, afternoon. And drove over to the hotel they were staying at and walked into the room. "So, decided not to head back after all?"

"Yeah, didn't seem like a good idea." Sam said as he closed the journal he had been writing in. "Don't need to ask how your night went. You would have been here earlier if it wasn't worth your time."

"Definitely worth my time." Dean said with a smirk. "Even if I had to pick up your slack and fend off the co eds all by myself." Though, truthfully, there was no fending off. More like beckoning.

Sam laughed. "Yeah, sorry I left you undefended like that. But hey, I figured you could handle it."

"Someone had to." Dean said as he flopped in a chair. "So Bobby trashing his books yet or is he holding out final judgement for now?"

"Nah he is holding out. Which surprises me actually." Sam said. honestly. "Ash is still neck deep in hero worship."

"Hero worshipping a banished angel. That has to be sacreligious somewhere." Dean said with a chuckle.

"Depends on your religion, I guess. Hunters don't tend to worship anything that doesn't save thier ass. Accurate information saves your ass." Sam said with a shrug.

"Do we have a religion?" Dean said with a laugh. "Even on Dad's dog tags, it didn't list a religion. Guess we're agnostic." They couldn't be atheist, not with the powers they called upon in certain rituals. That required an amount of faith, however small.

"Sounds about right. God exists... we exist... any thing beyond that really doesn't matter." Sam said as he finished up the packing. "So... ready to head home?"

"Home." Dean said with a laugh. "Thought that was the Impala. At least that's what you say when you get pissy." He teased as he grabbeda bag. "You can even drive. I could use a nap. Really, really use a nap. Girls these days..."

"Wimp." Sam said with a laugh. "You're getting old. Used to be you play all night and drive all day." He teased as he grabbed his bag and headed for the door.

"Dude, if I was still there, I'd be playing." Dean said with a laugh. "But since I'm not, no reason not to recharge the batteries. Old? I should smack you, ungrateful snot. I took on the co-eds so you wouldn't have to and I get repaid with insults."

"Oh is that what you were doing?" He said as he tossed his bag into the back seat. "Get in the car, old man."

Dean laughed as he tossed his into the back. "Just for that, you're not driving." He said, snatching the keys back. "Because you're obviously too young for such responsibility as this car. Run the fellowship, fine, but not the car."

"No, no, I wouldn't dream of letting you drive after you sacrificed so much to keep those co-eds away from me."

"Now that's nice." Dean said. "Honoring my sacrifice like that, but you know when duty calls..." He said. "Seriously, I got it. You still look tired anyway. You still not sleeping?"

"I'm fine." Sam said. "Sleep is over rated." He said with a faint smile. But he didn't argue any more and got into the passenger's seat.

"That's my line. You need to get your own." Dean said as he shook his head. "You need to sleep. Don't make me drug your Sasquatch ass."

"Yeah, cause that works so well." Sam said with a laugh. "I'm alright. It's just insomnia. " He told his brother. "Can't clear my head enough to sleep. Keep feeling like the sword of damocles is hanging over my head."

"Well, it'll have to go through my head first. Andwe all know I got the hardest head around." Dean said. "So that's one thing at least."

Sam laughed softly. "Yeah, that's what I'm worried about." He said and sighed. "It's alright.A lot of new things on my mind. Like what the newbig bad looking to rule the world is going to want from me and the others."

"Well, we'll deal with that when we haveto." Dean said. "Till then it's nothing but speculation and random guessing, enough to drive you crazy but not enough to get an actual plan in order."

"Yeah, I know. Just not looking forward totelling them it isn't over after all." He said.

"I think they know." Dean said. "I knew it wasn't over. Dad's mission was finally over, Mom was avenged and all that stuff, but it wasn't really over."

"And just think...Mom said she had grandkids coming. Wonder what other sons she has out there to provide those. We don't have time for pets, much less children."

"You never know." Dean said. "Dad always said it was useless to argue with Mom, because she was always right." He said with a chuckle. "So keep that one in mind."

"Oh that's so reassuring." Sam said with a chuckle. "Maybe she meant you are dropping little Winchesters all over the country and don't know it." He teased.

Dean laughed. "Hey, you never know." He said, shaking his head. Quite possible, scarily enough. And that would just be his luck too!

"And that... is the scariest part of it." Sam pointed out. "You know... it really is."

"Dude, I could have started my own ethnic group." Dean said with a laugh. "Imagine that. Enough to start a small country. Hey, maybe we can elect you president yet!"

"Oh yeah, that would be great. As if taking care of a horde of demon tainted kids isn't enough you want to throw YOUR's into the lot? I'll pass." He said with a chuckle.

"You're right. That many good looking kids in one place, it would drive everyone else crazy." Dean said with a laugh. "Besides, I'm not taking care of the horde. I'm just there providing back up. This is your show entirely, Sam. And you know what? You're doing a good job. Dad would be proud."

"I feel like I'm floundering. Like I'm missing major things some where. " Sam said with a sigh. "But I guess that is normal... since I dont know what all the things are I am supposed to be doing. "

"Okay, well, how would Dad break it down?" Dean said. "Let's see. Shelter? Check. Food? Check. Transportation? Check. Stabilization of community? Check. Did I miss anything?"

"No...it just ... I don't know." He said shaking his head. He felt as though he were walking along the edge of a cliff in the dark. He could feel the chasm to his side but couldnt see it, or the dangers that lurked below.

Dean laughed. "It's all right. I think most of the time Dad didn't even know what the hell he was doing." He said. "But that is one hell of a community you've got set up. Hunters, children like you, now angels wandering about."

"Yeah. I guess so." He said with a smile. "Josh always makes that whole leadership thing look effortless. Bobby is just instinctive at it. Me... not all that authoritative."

"You're doing all right." Dean said. "Now all we have to do is get through this freaking election so we can get our names cleared. Do you realize there's a whole section of the population I'm missing out on? Female postal workers."

"Oh, we can't have that." Sam said with a laugh. "And well... there is always the option of going back to school near by. " After all there was a lot to be done locally. And they could do weekend trips to take care of the more mundane monsters.

"Let's see if your boy gets elected first." Dean said with a laugh. Sam was jumping into 'counting his chickens before they hatched' territory.

"Yeah I know." Sam said. "I get to have a few dreams left though, that don't involve demons trying to control or kill me."

Dean nodded. And wasn't entirely sure that he, himself, even had dreams beyond that. His life goal was to kill the demon that killed his mother. Well, he did that. The bastard was dead, both his parents were at peace, Sam was settled a bit...what else did he really have to achieve? "I'm thinking we'll get you to that point. Of course, the actual course work and passing and shit is completely on you, dude. I'm no help."

"I don't know ... you helped pretty good when I was in school." Sam said. "Unless there were home work fairies that did my homework while I was sick that one time."

"Dude, you call me a fairy I'm seriously going to kick your ass." Dean said with a laugh. "I don't know, I guess I'll figure out something. Will have to, right?"

"Dude, just cause the demon is dead doesnt mean there isn't another job to do." Sam pointed out. "I mean even if I go back to school part time, and keep the order going... there are always going to be hunts for us to go on."

"Yeah, I know." Dean said. "I'm not too worried. I still got stuff to do." He said. Get Sam educated. Get Sam laid. Get Sam settled. Plenty to do.

"Especially since the latest recruit says there is just gonna be another one to take Azazel's place. " He pointed out.

"Can you really call a banished angel a recruit?" Dean asked with a laugh. "We'll see. And we'll handle it. We survived this one, right?"

Sam laughed. "Well, he is moving in. And he is supposed to help us so... yeah. He's a recruit. Better than saying the guy we are keeping an eye on in case he is lying to us."

"And what do we do if he is?" Dean said witha laugh. "Not much. I guess we could rat him out to his 'big brother' but you should know how much a little brother of sorts likes that!"

"I don't know. I suppose that's what Bobby is looking into. Sigils bind angels as well as demons, being two halves of the same coin and all that crap."

Dean laughed. "Yeah, that should be interesting. But who knows? Maybe he's completely above board. If nothing else, we can take his cat for ransom if we have to."

Sam laughed. "Yeah that works, but he also knows what your car looks like so we have to be careful about that because an exchange of hostages could get awkward."

"No, we've been assured he's not evil. And that would be evil." Dean said. "Very very evil. Like Satan evil."

"I get the feeling so would grabbing his cat." Sam said. "He sounded very attached to his cat."

"Okay, so no cat napping." Dean said with a laugh. "I'm sure he'll be fine. Even if he makes us spike the food with Ritalin."

"Yeah I noticed that too. Very hyper... reminded me of you that way. "

"I'm not hyper." Dean said. "Why does everyone think I'm hyper? Ever think the rest of you are just in slow motion or something?" Dad used to say that to him,when thenumerous teachers and arresting officers would start in on him.

"You didn't buy that crap Dad was spewing about that, did you?" Sam asked. "Trust me, you are hyper. When we get home, if you can sit still without twitching, or fidgeting or bouncing your leg up and down... I might believe you. On the hunt doesn't count. Thats training, not your natural state of being."

"I'm not twitching right now." Dean said. "But fine. We'll see about that. No twitching or bouncing for an hour."

"You aren't twitching right now because you are doing something. " Sam said. "But even that won't last. You'll be pounding on the steering wheel soon enough. Oh sorry... tapping " He said with a grin.

"Dude, only to the beat of a good song. Doesn't count." Dean said with a laugh. "You underestimate me. I can be as still as a statue when I want to be."

"Sure ... when you're hunting." Sam said. It was going to be fun to watch Dean try and prove him wrong. "And maybe for a few hours. Might even give you a day but you couldn't pull it off long term. There isn't any way."

"Why should I try?" Dean said with a smirk. "According to you, it's an inherent trait in my personality, and I'm a perfect big brother, therefore meaning I'm a perfect person and why should I change?"

"No... you are the best big brother. A perfect big brother would be annoying as hell." Sam said with a laugh. "I'm merely pointing out that you are ... seriously ADHD."

"Dude, that's lame. It's just an excuse to dope kids up on drugs so they act like perfect little zombies." Dean said. At least that's what their dad said when a teacher seriously recommended that Dean get evaluated for Ritalin use. It was all the rage then, after all.

"It was used as an excuse but that doesn't mean that there isnt actually a disorder. Dad didn't want to have to deal with the crap that came along with the doctors and the drugs. Besides... you didn't need drugs. Not everyone does. Now that kid next door to us when were little you know the one- when we were in Paris, Texas for the school year... That kid needed serious drugs."

"That kid needed a serious ass kicking." Dean said. "Even I can't run around for hours screaming about nothing. I swear, that kid probably ended up in jail. I had a nightmare once that Hendrickson caught me, and that kid was my cell mate. Except he was the same age he was when we left Paris."

"Now that would be hell on earth." Sam said shaking his head. "Gotta wonder what ever became of him. Who knows... maybe he's working for the FBI. Hendrickson seems a bit over the top as well."

"Dude, you've got a point. Though I was going to say something along the lines of a weird fixation with me. You'd think I was really the most dangerous person in America the way he carries on." Dean said with a shrug. "Okay, so we break in the new angel type guy, tell Bobby to chill...what else?"

"See what we can do about building up the community... branching out into other buildings... working on security. I just have a feeling we are going to need it."

"Okay, so we'll work on a wall of sorts. Set up surveillance, maybe do some guard posts in rotating duty." Dean said with a nod. "Training some of them that want to might not be a bad idea. I'm not talking setting up platoons like Josh wants, but if anyone's interested..."

"Exactly. " Sam said ."We need to find some way to be somewhat self sufficient too just in case we get stuck... I don't know. I can't shake the feeling. Probably just lack of sleep. Maybe I'll let you knock me out legitimately this time. A couple days sleep sounds good."

"Good. I'll punch you in your fluffy head after slipping you a mickey." Dean said with a laugh. "We can work on everything tomorrow. Right now, we'll just settle in and see how things go."

"I'm not fluffy." Sam said with a laugh. "And yeah, we'll see how things go. Not much else we can do."

"I didn't say you were fluffy. I said your head was fluffy." Dean said, reaching over and mussing his little brother's hair. "And it's fluffy. Seriously, you want me to drug you? I'll slip something into a bottle of tequila for you."

"Yeah... maybe I can stay asleep through the night that way." Sam said, and he wasn't one to like the idea of unnecessary drugs. He had taken enough for pain through the years that very little of it would make him sleepy any more.

"Good. I'll drug you. Sure I've got something to knock you out." Like his brother, he'd taken so many pain meds over the years that his tolerance was sky high. Besides, he would bet Bobby had something besides. "It'll do you some good, because watching me sleep can't be that entertaining."

"All depends on what you're talking about in your sleep." Sam said with a grin. "Sometimes it's really entertaining."

"I don't talk in my sleep." Dean scoffed. Then he paused. "Do I? Oh jeez, what do I say?"

Sam just grinned and slipped down in the seat, to rest his head against the back of it. He said nothing. It was better not to. Or at least more entertaining.

"Dude, I don't." Dean said. "I don't care what you say, I don't." He said as he drove, scowling at the road. "Now I might never sleep."

Sam just grinned and closed his eyes thinking about setting up thier voice activated tape recorder one night. Just to prove that his brother muttered in his sleep.

"You're such a bitch. Now I know you're putting me on, trying to look all innocent." Dean said as he turned on the radio. Sam had slept through it before. "I'll wake you up when we get there."

Sam didn't defend his position at all. He merely smiled "Thanks. I'm turning my cell off. They can call you if they need anything for a while." He added, reaching into his pocket to get the device.

"Wuss." Dean said with a chuckle. "I mean it. You are such a wuss. It's fine, I'll get you back. Don't worry about it."

"I'm not a wuss." Sam mumbled as he turned his head to prop it up on the window and the back of the seat. "You're just butch." He said with a faint grin. He loved pulling his brother's chain.

"Dude, someone has to be." Dean pointed out. He was right in his own mind at least. "Else everyone would think the Winchester men were all emoting and touchy feely."

"Oh please... It's the demon taint." Sam said. "It has to be. Neither you nor Dad could emote your way out of a wet paper bag."

Dean snickered. "Yeah, that's the master plan." He said. "Bunch of special kids who specialize in talking about their feelings and having group hugs." He said. "I don't know, might actually work."

"Jerk." Sam said laughing in spite of himself. "But hey... it's the world according to Oprah."

"And I've got Ash working on if she's connected to Satan. Or if she is Satan. Or maybe that's Martha Stewart."Dean said with a shrug. "One of them."

"More likely Martha Stewart. Remember the house in Texas? That place was straight out of Martha Stewart. " He said, referring to the place where they had found their father.

"Dude, I still swear it was the room giving Dad seizures, not the cipher underneath him." Dean said. "I mean it. I nearly broke out in hives."

"Yep, so Martha is Satan and Oprah is like... her second in command. We won't even discuss Laura Ashley or any of the other female icons out there."

"Let's not." Dean said. "I like keeping my breakfast down. So you're really going to try and get some sleep when we get back?" He knew Sam needed it. Like everyone else needed air, truth be told.

"If I don't... well... I'm afraid that I am getting paranoid, you know. " Sam was starting to think that the feeling he was hovering on the edge of doom was due to his lack of sleep.

"Is it paranoia if everyone really is out to get you?" Dean mused as he pulled into the compound. "I mean, there's Ash drinking all the beer. Me with a prank just on the edge of my mind...your torture never ends."

"That's just every day life though. This is... I don't know... too little sleep and not enough beer." Sam said closing his eyes, although he knew that wasn't it. There was something coming and it was going to be big. There just wasn't a demon directing his visions any more.

Dean nodded. "We'll figure it out. Tomorrow." Dean said as he parked the Impala in its normal space. It had an unofficial space, since no one, not even Andy, treated their vehicle as reverently as Dean did his. He joked with Andy that Andy's van was jealous, and Andy couldn't bring himself to honestly disagree either.

Andy met them as they got out of the car. "Your guy won the primary." Andy announced. "He's the official nominee for his party now."

Sam smiled. "Well something is going well at least." He said as he wiped at the sleep in his eyes. "We might be free to use our real names soon."

Dean laughed. "Bright side to everything." Dean said. "Listen, Sam's going to get some sleep." He said, directing Sam toward their room with a push on his shoulder. "So everyone gets to leave him alone."

"Yeah, Okay." Andy said with a casual shrug. "Things are pretty mellow around here right now. Sleep as long as he wants."

Sam smile a droopy smile over his shoulder at Andy in thanks and opened the bed room door to go inside. He was tired.

"Night Sam." Dean said and turned to Andy. "So did the latest guest show up yet?" Meaning the banished but not fallen angel. "And anyone see Mickey?"

"No to both." Andy said. "Not sure what to do with two of them, you know. Do they even get along all things considered?"

"You know, I don't even know. Mickey mentioned him, like, once. Apparently he was the one that found Sam, so that gets him a few points in my book." Dean said honestly. "He seems like an all right guy, a lot friendlier than Mickey, definitely."

"Yeah well... that doesn't take much since Mickey doesn't like humans because we have free will. Which I figure is why he keeps throwing it in our faces. "

"I think it's more because of the fact that he feels he has to keep cleaning up after us humans." Dean said thoughtfully. "I would think after a few centuries that would get tiring and make me cranky too."

"Yeah, but aren't we cleaning up after them?" Andy asked. "I mean... demons being what they are and the war happening before we were created and all." He shook his head. "Seems a bit hipocritical to me."

"Hey, I don't get it either." Dean said. "Believe me, it's the height of hypocriticism, knowing now that Sam and I were pulled into all this bullshit before I was even born."

"Yeah I agree. Not just you guys, but all of us had no say in what we are, or even that we exist. He doesn't get it. Oh well. He isn't here either."

"Well that's one annoying blip off the screen then." Dean said good naturedly. "So Sam and I were discussing some security for this place. Not the unit that Joshua wants, where we're all doing PT and weapons training at dawn, but anyone that wants to volunteer, some sentry posts might not be a bad idea."

"I'll start asking around, getting people moving in the right direction. I think more will volunteer than you think. They are getting their feet under them, wanting to do more now. I think we have a good chance and pulling together a functioning community."

"That's a good idea." Dean said. "And all communities have some sort of security in it, right? So we'll get a list going, and see where we go from there. It'll be good to get them all doing something."

"I think so too. Make the rest of us feel a little less like refugees and more like they belong. "Andy had never been captured so it didn't feel that way to him. He had been one of the heroes in that story. But he could well imagine what it felt like to be the victim.

"Okay, so let's see what we can do with that." Dean said. "Some will have to be trained. Wouldn't be a bad idea for some of the more passive powers to learn how to shoot." There were a few that had only premonitions for example. Hardly a defensive power.

"Yeah I agree." Andy said. "Having seen about how effective being a pacifist is in this war. Look, you go see to Sam and I will go and start talking to people. Might just make Josh's day if some people want to go all comando with him. "

Dean laughed. "Yeah, you might get a smile out of him yet." Dean said. "Sounds good. I could use a good nap myself." After a rest, he'd look into expanding into some of the other buildings. But a rest would be good. Because if he rested, he could make sure Sam rested by trapping the door.

"Good luck" Andy said and laughed softly as he walked away.

Sam had cleaned out his duffle bag, and set up his lap top while Dean was out talking to Andy. He wanted to check on the situation with McKendrick.

Dean came into the room and shook his head. "Dude. Sleep." Dean said firmly. "Come on, whatever news there is about politician boy will still be there when you wake up." He said as he looked over Sam's shoulders, at the headlines of the fresh faced young politician grabbing the nomination. "Certainly some excitement over it, though, isn't there?"

"Yeah, a huge amount. Most people don't even take notice of someone before the primaries are decided, especially since he was just the running mate until this past year... this guy... he has people eating out of his hands already."

Dean never took much notice of politics. Didn't follow it, and he didn't vote. "Well he talks a good talk." Dean said. He knew that, he'd talked to Allen one on one about Sam plenty of times when Sam went missing. He did laugh when some commentator on a feed through the lap top started talking about McKendrick's 'sex appeal.' "That's what the American public is voting on?" He asked.

"The next Kennedy, they are saying." Sam shook his head. "I hope he meets a better end."

"Dude, if the American public votes on who's good looking and oozes sex appeal, remind me of this when I hit 35." Dean said with a laugh. "I bet I'd be a shoo in." He said with a grin. "Seriously, call him up, congratulate him, and then hit the sack."

Sam pulled out his cell phone and dialed Allen's cell phone number, waiting for him to answer.

Allen answered after a couple of rings, moving from the party to a quieter room off to the side. "Sam." He said, having a feeling it was the younger man. "I'm guessing you heard." His grin could be heard over the phone.

"I did, congratulations. You're half way there." He said with a smile. "How does it feel?"

"Like I'm halfway there." Allen said with a laugh. "Half the job is done, now all I gotta do is beat the other guy. Considering I just fended off four other guys, coming into it late...won't be so bad I don't think. Of course, I say that now. Ask me again when the thrill of victory is gone. How are you two doing?"

"Taking it easy, keeping our heads down for a while. You ahm... you know Azazel is dead right?" He asked, having not called him after his last abduction.

"I heard." Allen said. "Must not have been easy. But with that over, you should be able to get on with a good deal of your life now. And I meant what I said. When I'm elected, the legal issues with you and your brother will disappear quietly."

"Thank you for that." Sam said and chuckled softly "Glad to hear the note of confidence in that. " When not if, he had said. "I suspect there will be others coming after us soon enough. Winchesters have a huge target on their backs. Especially where demons are concerned."

"Well, you never know." Allen said. "But enjoy the downtime while you've got it. You've more than earned it."

"Yeah I suppose I should. Well I just wanted to call and say congratulations. Right now I have an older brother glaring at me, 'cause I haven't slept in a... few ... days... so I should probably go to bed before it turns into more than a glare."

Allen laughed. "Would hate for that to happen. Good night, Sam. Take care of yourself." He said before hanging up to go rejoin his victory party.

"A few days? You're such a liar." Dean said. But he was glaring. Seemed like Sam was stalling. And sooner or later he'd collapse. He wasn't anymore immune to that than Dean was, and though Dean had learned that the hard way, he didn't want his brother to. That whole lead by example thing.

"Yeah, like I'm going to tell him everything" Sam said as he set aside his cell phone and moved toward his bed to start removing his shoes.


	10. Chapter 10

Ben, his much more common and easily pronouncable name anyway, was laying on his stomach in the middle of the meadow watching Leonidas prance on fluttering butterflies. The small black cat had yet to catch one, but he never stopped trying. He didn't look for Mickey, but knew he was there. Even if the others didn't know it yet.

His own arrival had gone unheralded, which was fine with him. He slipped in quietly, and there was a bit of a sigh of relief that he didn't NEED to eat. He liked to eat, he liked to sleep, but he didn't need to do either of those things. So he just looked over the research a few of the others already had and watched his cat settle in. Leonidas had had a bit more of a difficult time. Here he wasn't the ruler of his domain, no matter who he hissed at. And there were plenty that he hissed at.

"You know what your problem is?" He said to the archangel, never taking his eyes off his cat. "You just never stop and observe. All you do is watch and judge. No wonder your life outside the Gates pretty much sucks." He'd spent most of the last century around colleges, and had picked up a great deal of its vernacular, even as it changed.

Michael shook his head. "It's what I'm supposed to do. " He said simply. "I don't have the luxury of just hanging out with the mortals. I still have a job to do."

Ben chuckled at his cat as he missed yet another butterfly. "Luxury? For a long time I thought it was a curse. Having no purpose any more, having to think of my own." He said with a shrug. "So what's your job now? Azazael's been defeated. That's one headache gone at least." Even if his 'passing' did bring more. "I didn't think your boy could do it, so good work there."

"He was fighting for his brother's soul and both of their lives." Mickey pointed out. "He was nowhere near ready but he didn't have a choice. Next time... next time he may not have the same drive." He knew Dean's training was far from done, but he also knew that pushing it again would do nothing but break him.

"Does he know he's become your one human army?" Ben asked with a raised eyebrow, looking over his shoulder and up at Mickey. "And you know, having a job and still being in His grace doesn't have to necessarily preclude you from having a personality."

Mickey scowled. "I have a personality, and he isn't a one man army. He has an entire base here, other hunters ... he was chosen. That's the way it is. He also chose this way of life before he ever found out about it, so don't go assuming I've taken his choices away."

"Ooh, did I hit a nerve?" Ben asked. "Ever notice how by making a choice, you effectively lose all choice? And you don't have a personality. You have an image. There's a difference. And it's really an obnoxious difference at that."

"And what pray tell do you consider a personality? It may not be one that you like but it's there. Its always been there, it's always going to be there."

"Okay, you don't have free will. I get it. But you're allowed to evolve." Ben said, rolling onto his back and looking up at Michael, propping himself up on his elbows. "You don't have to be that guy who speaks to the mere mortal through a burning bush. Not all the time. Welcome to the twenty first century, Michael."

"I haven't used the burning bush. I talk to people... in person." He said defensively. " I've even been nice to some of them." He added rolling his currently dark eyes.

Ben laughed. "Oh, okay. You've been 'nice' to them. Which means you're not pointing out all the possibly ways they could be damned to hell." He said. "I guess for you that is nice. I think they're bothered by the fact that you don't seem to like them though."

"I... watched a foot ball game." He said. "And I talk to them... including the one that doesn't talk. I like that one... and the priest is worthy of the order. A little too forward at times but a good man."

Ben rolled his eyes. "That's progress. I guess." He said as his kitten came over and flopped tiredly next to him. "So what's next?" He asked, expectantly. "One down, a bunch more to go. Hey, if I get put on the list, you'll warn me, right? For old times' sake?"

"You aren't on the list." Mickey said. "At least not that I have heard. I would know. Right now, it all depends on who makes waves first. I hate waiting, but that's the way it has to play out. You know things are going to go to hell before they get better."

"I know that." Ben said. "I was the one that wrote it down, remember?" One of God's proclaimations. Back in the day. He'd faithfully written it down, and it had been passed down ever since.

"You gonna take sides this time? Or bury your head again?" Michael asked. Lucifer's betrayal of them all had hurt, but Ben's... that was in some ways worse. The others did it out of misguided convictions, or hero worship of their older brother. But Ben had simply stood to the side and watched, as though it didn't matter. And that still stung.

Ben was quiet for a moment, and laid back off his elbows, staring at the sky. Glad he wasn't human, he could look at the sun without going blind. "We're back to that again?" He said quietly. "No one told me I had to take a side. I don't take sides, I'm not supposed to. I'm supposed to record, not judge. What I'm doing now goes so far against my grain sometimes I feel my skin crawl." Aiding the hunters. Choosing a side however passively. "No one told me until it was too late that we were all taking sides!" He said emphatically. "And don't you think I've paid for that? Haven't I paid enough?"

"Paid? You haven't paid. You get to sit back and enjoy your life like a human. What pay?" Mickey shouted. "You get the best of both worlds and still you mope. You're as bad as the humans."

"I have no home!" Ben shouted back, getting up. Mickey was taller than him, archangels were supposed to be imposing. But the form God had chosen for Ben wasn't exactly short either. "I have no family. I have no purpose. I wish I was human, because then this torment could end! I'm the soccer ball kicked off the moon, sent into a spin, flailing around looking for some source of gravity and I'm not finding it! Paid? You don't think I've paid? You spout off about free will and consequences like a knowledgable scribe, when you're spouting off what I wrote down! You quote my words like an expert, then ask me for help, then condescend and accuse me? Say I haven't paid? You think I enjoy this? Anyone I possibly make a connection to dies. And I never see them again. There is no paradise for me, there is no salvation. It's maddening, and you think I haven't paid?"

"No! You haven't! Do you know how many died! How many cared enough to take a side died? They just... ceased to exist. Not merely archangels. All the choirs lost members to the battle, pain, searing pain and then nothing. They don't have a paradise to go to either. You abandoned us. You left us to face it without you because you didn't know you had to take a side. You sat on the sidelines like a human at the colliseum, because you didn't know you had to take a side."

Ben put his arms out. "That's right. I didn't know. To take a side would have meant some free will, because I was made to observe. Observe and record, and I did so faithfully. I thought I was doing my job! And I did my job. I can name you every single angel that died. Every single angel that cried in pain, I can describe it in vivid, horrible detail. And I see it all the time!" And it haunted him. In ways that Michael could never understand, because he was righteous. But Ben's memory was a gift, and it was a curse. "I did my job, I did my purpose. He never told me to stop and pick up a weapon. Fine, He was busy. I get that. Now. But no free will means no free will. You wanted me to make a choice I was incapable of making!"

"Then why are you here instead of above? Why did HE in his perfection cast you out for something you were incapable of doing differently?" Mickey countered. He could no more believe in God making a mistake than he could believe that Lucifer had made the right decision and had done it for the benefit of all angel kind, rather than to feed his own pride.

"I don't know!" Ben shouted. "I'm not all knowing like Him! And He doesn't have to explain himself, least of all to me. He has His reasons, and He chooses not to share them, but in the meanwhile I'm stuck in a void, waiting out my penance with all the patience I can muster. You think it's so easy to act like a human? To not fall like the rest of them? To lose this shape, the last thing He gave me? If you think it's easy, you really don't know anything. You're still in His light. You don't feel the pull from Lucifer every single moment. You don't hear the promises he makes in your ear when you're weakened. You can't understand."

"You're right. I don't understand. I don't understand any of it. And as much as I want to believe it's some part of His divine plan... I just can't stop seeing you on the side line scribbling madly away." He shook his head. Ben didn't understand how much that ate at him. He supposed no one but another archangel would.

The one small consolation Ben held to was his 'scribbling'. Because he did, it made its way down to Man. And they knew of the sacrifices of his brethren. But it was such a small comfort, really. "Then why did you ask me here, Michael?" Ben asked. "Your world is black and white. And I'm black. Am I here as a cautionary tale? Of what happens if these kids don't join the fight in some way? Am I here to make you feel better about yourself? Why?" He demanded.

"Because you haven't given in to Luc...Because you're my brother..." He said quietly. And that was what it all boiled down too. He felt responsible for those of his bretheren less martially capable like any older brother looking out for the younger ones. Ben was vulnerable, especially where Lucifer and his minions were concerned. This was the only way he could protect him... even then unofficially.

"Why now?" Ben challenged. "Is it all going to happen that fast? I don't understand. There is no place for me in Heaven. There's only this. This endless existence that stretches on forever. If it all ends, I get to sit outside the gates and listen to the wolves howl."

"You chose to come here, little brother. I didn't do it. You and the Winchesters decided it was a good idea. You make the right choices now. It's in flux right now... whether it's going to come or not. But there is a chance that it's going to go down hill fast in the next few years. "

"Fine. I chose. Is that what you're really mad about? That now I get to choose?" Ben asked, shaking his head. "The whole timetable has been moved up. By centuries. Nothing's right, everything's off. We're at a disadvantage you know."

"Apparently Luc was able to choose too, wasn't he? Free will leads to damnation." Mickey said with a sigh. That was the center of it. Free will was the excuse given for every evil that had been perpetrated since the dawn of time. Beginning with Lucifer and cascading to new depths of depravity with human kind. Performing acts of evil that not even the fallen could take credit for. "And yes... we're at a serious disadvantage. That's why they need you."

Ben laughed. "Mick, I have a photographic memory, with a camera thatI can't turn off. I can tell you exactly what order Ash at his food today. Not because I really want to know, but because that's just the way I am. If I were human, I'd have been insane long ago. I don't really know what possible use I can be, I don't fight, and any off color jokes I might know will hardly turn the tide of battle. But Michael...you need to remember as well. That free will can also lead to salvation. Please, please keep that in mind."

Michael sighed and leaned against the nearest tree. "So I've been told. Free will has been the excuse for letting so many things happen. No you can't prevent the war in HIS name, they have free will. No you can't keep the bastards from torturing HIS chosen people to death, because the bastards have free will. "

Ben got up from the ground with a sigh and put his hand on his oldest brother's shoulder. "True. And free will also is the reason that common people risked their lives to save strangers from holocausts. Free will had people standing up for injustices and making change. Free will is the young man who helps the old woman load her groceries. Free will is the firefighter who runs into a fire to save children. Free will is the child on her knees praying to Him not for herself, not for a toy, but for someone else."

"Do you have any idea how few those are in comparison to the others?" Michael asked, heart broken. "Yet HE loves them all. Even the ones that turn onHIM, even those that deny HIM."

"God loves all his creations." Ben said. "He is the Holy Father after all, He didn't take that title lightly. Maybe...maybe you need to stop thinking along that trail of thought. About why He loves them."

"He loves them because they have a choice in whether they love him back." Michael growled. "I have no choice,but it doesn't matter. Days like today I almost understand Luc. "

Ben looked at Michael in horror. "Don't say that." He said. "Don't even think it. You don't want to go down that route. Believe me. It's not worth it. It's a horrible route, trust me, I know."

"Almost understanding. Hell, even if I understood completely, doesn't mean I would ever go down that path. Makes me wonder sometimes though... How he could actually manage it... if none of us have free will, how did he and the others manage to ..." he shook his head and shut the thoughts from his mind quickly. That way lay madness for an angel. Particularly one as single minded and loyal as Michael. For him the war wasn't over yet. It never would be. How could it be? It was his job to look over those that continued his work. It would never be done until Lucifer was bound.

Ben wondered about that too. But he was intensely curious by nature. More so than Mickey was. But the only answer he could come up with that made sense was that it was all God's plan. In one way or another. Otherwise that would mean there was a flaw, and that wouldn't happen. But he knew better than to tell Mickey that. That would start him off again. "You need a hobby." He said with a nod. "Or a pet."

"A pet... what would I do with a pet?" He asked looking at the little black kitten. "A ferocious predator... and you call it cute and cuddly... and a pet."

"What would you do with a pet?" Ben asked, stooping to pick up the black ball of fur scratching at his leg. "You feed it, and play with it, wash it when it needs it, get it toys, you can even have playdates. Though that's usually with dogs. And he's not a ferocious predator, he's not a panther."

"Tell that to the butterflies he is terrorizing, or the mice and birds that he was created to eat." Mickey pointed out. "What sort of cat would he be without being a predator?"

Ben scowled. "You mean the butterflies he's failed to catch? And the mice and birds he doesn't eat because I spend a fortune on cat food." He held the cat right up to Mickey. "Come on, he's adorable. And fluffy."

Mickey blinked and pulled his head back, but reached out to scratch the the kitten behind the ears. "He doesn't eat mice and birds or snakes because he isn't big enough."

"You know why you're miserable? Because you're a pessimist. Next you're going to tell me that he's going to try and eat me one night when he gets big enough." Ben said as the kitten purred.

"He won't ever get big enough...and what makes you think I am being a pessimist by calling an animal made to hunt down mice and birds and snakes a predator? What's wrong with being a predator? I just don't see what's so precious about it, is all."

"You pidgeonholed him. He's not even neutered yet and you pidgeonholed him into being a predator. He can be more than that you know. Entertainment. Company. Comfort. Something that sheds all over my clothes and tears up my furniture." Ben said. "Fine, he's a predator. But that's not all he is. But it's all you see."

"You're gonna get him neutered?" Mickey asked wrinkling his nose a little. "You know, I'd watch it when you sleep. That could be enough to make him consider eating you when he's grown."

"Possibly." Ben said with a laugh. "At least I vetoed getting him declawed." He put the kitten back down so it could curl up in a patch of sun and doze. "But that's your problem, you pidgeon hole people."

"Maybe... I know there are good people in the world. I also know how few of them there are. Most people aren't evil. Don't get me wrong. They are well behaved and non-violent, but their hearts... the things they think and feel and wish for...and those are the majority of humanity."

"And with their free will, they're well behaved and non-violent. Gotta give them credit for that." Ben pointed out.

"Doesn't make them good. Just makes them... not bad." Mickey said with a sigh.

"And 'not bad' is a good start." Ben said. "It'sa lot more than some people can say. 'Not bad' is the new good I think."

"That's just it, Ben... there is no new good, there is only the old good. But they don't want to commit to virtue because that would cost them too much."

"You know, you should take what you can get. Because you're not going to change them." Ben said. "One could make an argument that your boy is guilty of some of the cardinal sins after all. Lust, gluttony, possibly wrath. But he was chosen anyway."

"He was chosen before he himself chose to do those things. Believe me I know what he has done. I just don't understand these humans. They are given the greatest gift... two of them really ... yet all they do is complain that God isn't their personal genie in the lamp."

"They're children." Ben said patiently. "They don't understand, and very few of them are capable of understanding. So we have to wait patiently by, no matter how much we just want to rain down fire and ash, and wait for them to grow up."

"I know." He said and began to pace. Do you have any idea what it's like to realise that the best heart amongst them belongs to a man who can't remember how many women he has slept with?"

"I don't know what one has to do with the other." Ben said. "Love and sex are two completely different things. So's his heart and...his...well...you know." Ben said, shaking his head. "You could look at it as him celebrating...often...the fact that God gave humans those nice interlocking bodies and all. That whole premarital sex thing was started up by prudish mortal men who wanted to control women."

Mickey sighed. "I need to go... with things heating up, I need to take care of a few things. Keep an eye on the boys. They are trouble magnets."

"I've noticed." Ben said with a chuckle. "I'll do my best, but I'm a little less fearsome than you, remember. Always was."

"I don't think you need to be fearsome. But they are more likely to listen to you than me."

"Yeah, we'll see." Ben said with a shake of his head. What did he know? He'd never led an army...or anyone for that matter. He was a historian. At his best in the academic setting. So maybe Sam. Probably not Dean.

"Relax...you aren't in charge here. That's Sam's job. All you need to do is advise and hope they listen."

"Keep your fingers crossed for me." He said with a chuckle. "That they listen, and they don't find a way to banish me into the void. Not quite ready for that." He still had hope.

"They can't banish you without HIS approval. You're safe enough." Mickey said. Ben was where and what he was for a reason. Not that either of them understood it, but they didn't need to understand, simply to obey.

"Okay. Good point." Ben said. "Hey, do me a favor. If you go somewhere populated, stop at a gift store. They're fun."

"What is it you want me to pick up for you?" Michael asked with a confused look.

Ben rolled his eyes and sighed. "You're supposed to pick up the tackiest, wackiest, dumbest, most useless thing that you can possibly get." He said patiently. "It's one of man kind's greatest inventions...gift stores and tourist traps."

Mickey gave him a look of utter lack of comprehension. "Oookay." He said and faded from sight. "You have gone completely native, you know that." Came the disembodied voice, then nothing.

Ben shook his head with a grin. Michael would probably walk in, walk back out in disgust and pout in his own way at being defiled like that. Though Ben honestly did enjoy gift shops. And street fairs. And carnivals, especially the Renaissance Festival, they made it look so clean and joyful. Ah, revisionist history.

Sam hadn't slept as well as he had pretended to the night before. He pretended for Dean's sake. Dean had a deep seated need to make sure Sam was okay. Even if there was nothing he could do.

"Hey, you getting settled in okay?" He asked Ben, as he rubbed at the stubble he hadnt bothered to deal with.

"Oh yeah, everyone's been great." Ben said. "As soon as they stopped walking on eggshells. Think they finally get that I don't have, nor ever had, the power to rain down fire and level whole cities with a glare." He said with a chuckle. "You look tired."

"Yeah, it's a permanent expression I think." Sam said with a smile."They will get used to you. I think they will like you. Give 'em a little time. Ash is already singing your praises, so it shouldn't take long."

Ben laughed. "Of course they'll like me. I have Leonidas. When in doubt, bring an adorable furball, and it does the trick every time." He said holding his black kitten, who knew he was being praised and purred in response.

"You named a kitten after a Spartan. That's a lot for a little guy to live up to." Sam said as he reached out to stroke the kitten's fur.

"Nah, not for this cat." Ben said with a grin. "He'll make it look easy. Already had offers to watch him if I have to leave and he can't come with."

"I don't doubt it. Especially around here. So what do you think of our little sanctuary?" Sam asked. They were doing well for what they were with what they had, he thought. He would like to give them more but right now there wasn't much he could do about it.

"It's nice. Quiet." Ben said. "But what you need is a pool. And it could even be a group project. Pools are good, recreation for all really. And it will get hot here in the summer."

"That's not a bad idea. I'll talk to Andy and Bobby and see what they think we can pull off. They have been around a lot more than I have, got a better idea of what people are capable of." He and Dean had been off in search of the sword after all.

"It was just a suggestion." He said. In his observing experience, pools pulled people together. They could have parties there, relaxing time there, recreation time...just about everything. And water (when it wasn't being used to flood the world) was immensely calming.

"It's a good one. I think we all need a break from... worrying about what's out there. We're all a little shell shocked still I think. Especially since there was more than Azazel after us."

"I can see how that can be heavy." Ben said. He'd had things after him since the war also. But this was hardly the time or place for one upmanship. "So we'll see what we need. I once made a pool. Years ago. Think I remember how." Which was an inside joke, Ben never forgot anything.

Sam chuckled. "You probably have us all beat." He said. "I don't suppose you've seen my brother around this morning, have you?"

"Don't quote me." Ben said with laughing eyes. "But I think he's sleeping. Because I think I saw Bobby Singer slip something into his beer. Something about him not sleeping or some such."

Sam grinned a little. Good thing Bobby was easier to fool than Dean or the ... man... before him or it would be Sam that had been slipped a mickey and not his brother. "Good. He needs it."

"There was the theory that if he wasn't staring at you, maybe you'd get sleep." Ben said. He wasn't easy to fool. He just seemed that way sometime. "So it was an experiment. The result is that we have one rested Winchester brother, instead of no rested Winchester brother. I guess it's progress?"

"Considering Dean has the worse temper." He said, which wasn't true by a long shot, but Sam didn't realize that. "It's definitely progress."

"Dean has the more hair trigger temper. There's a difference." Ben said gently. "I'm lucky, I don't need to sleep. And even if I did, Leonidas does more than my share anyway. So how are people really doing here? I think I'm getting the best face right now."

"We're all pretty ragged. I spent a very short time in the government's care." It was only a half lie. He remembered years, but he had only been there a little more than a day. "The others have been there for years. A lot of PTSD, alot of reality to come to terms with. On top of having to learn to control abilities that were pushed to powerful levels before we could control even the easy stuff. Then there's the people stuck with dealing with the rest of us." He laughed a little at that. "Wouldn't surprise me if Bobby was in as much need of sleep as Dean. In other words... about as well as can be expected and not nearly as well as we pretend."

"Yeah I guessed that." Ben said with a nod. "But your only choice is to keep on going, as much as that choice might suck somedays. So let's see what we can do about a pool, it's at least something. Then we can figure out everything else step by step."

"Yeah, that's all we can do. It's all we have been doing." Sam shook his head. "Come on, I will introduce you to some of the others. That is if Ash hasn't already shown you off to the entire colony." He said with a grin.

Ben laughed. "He's excitable, but he's a good egg." He said. "But I love people, so on with the tour!"

Sam grinned. "First stop, the kitchen. I'm starving." He said with a laugh and led the way. He knew someone would be in there this time of day.

"I bet. Sorry I kept you from your meal." He said, sincerely. "I forget humans have to do things like eat...sleep...shower..." He said with a laugh. "I"ve been bouncing between different colleges for the last twenty years."

"I remember college life. Students tended to forget things like eat...sleep ... shower." Sam said with a grin. "No wonder you get confused."

"Thankfully I never had to deal with them not showering. At least not for long. Great ventilation systems, I always insisted on it." He said with a laugh as they headed into the kitchen, where he got his cat a shallow bowl of milk.

Sam raided the fridge for sandwich fixings. He still hadn't gotten used to having real meals again. "Did you ever teach out at Stanford?" He asked trying to make normal conversation.

"I did." Ben said, sitting on the counter as Leonidas drank his milk. "About...fifteen years ago? Did this whole series on occult manifestation in pop culture. The courses people get paid to teach!"

"I was there a few years ago. Wow... 8 years ago. If I had stayed in school, I wouldbe the ultimate evil on earth. A tax lawyer." He said. "What's worse, I think I would have been bored out of my mind."

"I know people who would say the true evil is divorce lawyers." He said. "I have this fellow historian, he specializes in WWII, when he got divorced, his ex's lawyer snagged her a certain percentage of all his books. Even the ones he hasn't written yet."

"Damn...I knew I picked the wrong specialization. But to be honest I was hoping to avoid being needed to represent any of my family." He said with a laugh. Divorce and trial lawyers were entirely too probable.

"Hey, at least you have a justice system." Ben pointed out as he found a can of tuna fish and opened it. "Where I come from, it's one strike and you're out. Okay, so it was a very big strike. But no due process or anything."

"Yeah but our judges are only human." Sam pointed out. "You want one? " He asked before wrapping the the food and putting it back in the fridge. He then waved to Dierdre who entered the room.

"I'm fine." He said, waving off the offer of food. He ate in social situations because it was expected. That was about it. Otherwise, he didn't need to eat at all. He waved at Dierdre when the girl came into the room. "Hello." He said. "I'm Ben." Easier name to go by.

She smiled at him and waved. So this is Michael's bother.. so much easier to think of him that way than as a demon. He doesn't feel like a demon. and Sam wouldn't bring a real demon here. Not a real one.

"Nah, I'm in limbo. Neither one nor the other. Though sometimes I like to think of it as a really really long time out." Ben said with a chuckle. "You must be Miss Blue." He'd asked Michael to give him the run down. When he got to Diedre, he said "She's blue." "Like sad?" Ben had questioned. "No, like the color."

She smiled a little. I'm Dierdre. She thought. I'm glad you can hear me. I was going to miss having someone to talk to since Mickey left.

"Oh he'll be back." Ben assured her. "He just had to go take care of some of his normal business. He left the sword for Dean, after all."

She nodded. He said he would be back. He's very nice to me. Doesn't ask me to speak out loud. I like that. The others think they are helping but they aren't. It just gets frustrating. He understood.

"The others think he's not as nice." Ben said, knowing Sam was still in the kitchen. But Michael was his brother. Someone had to defend him. "He comes across that way, I know. He's just battle scarred."

I know. We all are. He gets a little too lost in his philosophy sometimes. Hurts people's feelings to be told its our own fault we were screwed up as babies and tortured for it later. I know he doesn't mean it that way but ... it's hard to hear it anyway.

"He spends a lot of time down here. More so than Home. His philosophy he thinks is the only thing that separates him from you. And to do his job, he needs to be separate, so he holds to it probably tighter than he should."

I guess. I thought he was supposed to watch over us... protect us. That's what the prayer to him is about. That probably makes him crazy too I guess.

"He does." Ben said. "But he's still not like anyone on this planet. He's not even really like everyone else in Heaven. He holds himself apart, because he's held higher. Before God created even dark and light, He created Michael."

Not sure if that sucks, or if it's the coolest thing ever. I mean... the first creation of God... the first thing He thought to create and it's you... and then your snot nosed arrogant little brother gets to sit at His left hand... which wasn't a bad place to be until the snot nosed little brother made it... well.. sinister.

"It wasn't sinister until he made it so." Ben said. "And that's what he fears. Pride. Lucifer's greatest sin, really, was developing the amount of pride that he did. And humans, well, you're full of pride. It's the way you were made, it's all right. But he's so afraid of heading down Lucifer's road...he didn't wake up one day and decide to try and overthrow God."

Pride isn't all bad... there is good pride and then there is arrogance. Michael isn't lacking in pride either. Or at least he thinks he's better than we are... even if he is nice to me.

"You're wrong. God created angels. He created the sun and the moon, and the fish and the beasts. But his greatest creation was you." He said, pointing at Diedre. "He demanded we bow down before His greatest creation, made in His own image. Lucifer refused, there was no way some mortal piece of flesh could be better than him. His sin of pride. Michael? He was the first to bow. I know, I was there."

I guess... but obedience has nothing to do with how someone feels. It just means he obeyed. Not that he agreed. Oh well. Doesn't matter if he agreed or not or what he thinks of humans really. I don't think anyone here other than Bobby, Dean and Ash are really what you could call human anyway. Well... Josh too.

"You're human." Ben said. "Whoever convinced you that you were anything else is wrong, even if that person was you."

They did things to us when we were little. they changed us. We started out human enough but... we're different now.

"They changed you, more like amplified you, but you're not non human." Ben said. "I would give anything to be human most days. The other days I just want to go home."

Dierdre impulsively stepped forward to hug the outcast angel. Until then you have us, she thought, knowing how he felt, even if her idea of home was something a good deal different. Even if she was human by his his estimation, she didn't feel like she was.

"Yeah I guess I do." He said with a chuckle. "And Leonidas." He said as Dierdre pulled away. He picked the cat up. "This is the real scene stealer right here."

She laughed softly and started to play with the kitten, getting him to bat at her fingers.

Sam smiled as he leaned against the wall, eating his sandwich. It was good to hear sound coming from the girl. Even if it was just laughter. It was the little things that made him feel that everything might just be alright after all.

Ben grinned watching the two of them and looked at Sam with a nod. It was the little things, it really was. And little things were enough, they eventually led to bigger things.

"So it looks like you have kitten sitter all lined up there." Sam said, nodding to Dierdre. "From the looks of it, you could pay her in bandaids."

"He's exceedingly gentle." Ben said. At least with those needing gentleness. The cat had an inner way of knowing that. With Ben, he's scratch and bite. With Dierdre he'd probably purr and playfully swipe. "She'll wear him right out."

"Shall we leave them to play while we continue the tour?" Sam asked. If the others reacted to cats this way, he might have to break into the humane society and liberate some animals. That thought made him grin even wider.

"I think Leonidas is properly entertained." Ben agreed. "Could start a whole petting zoo and Dierdre wouldn't mind."

"Don't tempt me. Right after we sort out that whole swimming pool situation." Sam said with a smile.

"What swimming pool situation?" Bobby asked as he came in to the kitchen.

"We're going to build a pool." Ben said. "A nice community project with great benefits...in that when we're done, we have a pool."

Sam laughed. "It was either that or a petting zoo."

"You need more sleep." Bobby said figuring exhaustion was playing a part here. "Where are we gonna get the supplies for a swimming pool?"

"Hardware store." Ben said as he grabbed a piece of paper and started jotting down what he remembered. Which was everything. Bobby had to bite back a chuckle as he took the list. Compared to the only other angel type he knew, Michael, Ben was nearly overflowing with wide eyed innocence in some ways. Amazing when you considered he was the banished one of the two. "It'll work." Ben said. "Some work, but it'll work."

"Guess we need to find out who wants to put in the work to get a pool, and have Andy start working on getting supplies for it." Sam said with a smile.

"A group project might not be a bad idea." Bobby agreed grudgingly. But he wasn't the swimming pool type. Didn't mean some of the others weren't.

"That's what I was thinking." Ben said with a nod.

"Right then... " Sam said with a nod. "I can get Andy started on the supplies and set up a sign up list." He looked to Bobby. "Thanks for knocking Dean out last night. He needed the sleep."

"So do you." Bobby said with a hrmph. "I was hoping if he wasn't checking in on you all the time, you'd get some too."

Sams smile faded a little. "I don't see that happening any time soon." Sam said. "It's alright. I'll sleep eventually. Don't worry."

Bobby scowled. "You never buy that line with your brother, why should we buy it with you?" Bobby said. "Don't worry you say. If your last name is Winchester, I'm going to worry." Because he'd never met such pig headed obstinate men in all his life. The worst part? It was obviously hereditary.

Sam gave Bobby a look worthy of John himself. "When I have time and inclination to sleep, I'll sleep. You can worry all you want to, it's not going to change anything."

Bobby did the same thing when he was faced with such a look from John himself. Shook his head and rolled his eyes. Gave a sigh. Sam was fighting a losing battle with himself, didn't have much to do with what Bobby did or said. "I realize that." Bobby said. "Doesn't stop me from worrying though."

Sam sighed. "I'm alright." He said once more. "Come on... let's go see about getting this swimming pool project started."

Dean came out of his room finally, and blinked against the sunlight. Two beers. Damn, he was getting old or something. He felt it today! He swore he didn't move all night, instead he'd just flopped and then next thing he knew it was a day and a half later. Maybe more. Certainly not this bright when he fell asleep.

Nope, he was drugged. It was a trick that was supposed to only be played on Sam. Sam probably did it. He was sneaky like that. In New Orleans, after...everything...when Dean would turn down his morphine, or in some cases turn it off, he'd go to sleep and wake up with it on, and his brother having a slightly guilty expression and asking 'how he slept' or some such bullshit. Yup. Had to be Sammy. Or Bobby. Or maybe they were cahoots together. That was also a possibility.

Just because you were paranoid didn't mean they weren't after you.

Andy was coming down the hall staring at a list of things on a piece of paper. "Swimming pool. One angel shows up and they want training and swords and the next one wants a swimming pool." He said more to himself than anything.

"Huh?" Dean asked. Was he still asleep and having some fucked up dream? Because Andy wasn't making sense. Oh he remembered about Ben. And he definitely remembered Mickey. But swimming pools? Where did that come into the equation. "Hey, Andy...how much did I drink last night?" If he forgot how much he drank (had to be more than two beers, he wasn't Sammy), then maybe he had to expand his dating pool to the AA crowd.

"Not much. Bobby thought you could use a little sleep." He said, knowing it wasn't exactly a secret "Figured if you stopped staring at Sam he might sleep. Didn't work, but hey you got some rest finally."

"I was fine." Dean said, and it came out cranky even to his own ears. He ran a hand over his face and hair. "Okay, so angels and pools? You lost me."

"Ben thinks a great community project. Get every one involved in the construction... and of course in the partying in it afterwards. Me... I have to go and mojo the supplies."

Dean laughed. "That's what you get for being co in charge person." He said with a grin. "Come on, I'll ride along. You can tell me what I've missed in my drugged out state, since we both know Sam won't tell me shit. Like I'm made of glass or something."

"Co incharge person... more like the guy with the magic voice." He said with a chuckle. "And hey yeah, come along. Could use the company. Zoe is off with Father Reynolds taking care of some of the more... skittish members."

Made sense. Zoe was so small and quiet and unassuming, she'd be best with the skittish ones. "How are the skittish members doing?" There were many reasons why they were skittish, and none of them were easily resolved. But he was warming to the idea of a pool, the more he thought about it.

"They are doing better now that old yellow eyes is dead. I think they were too afraid to hope with him still running around. So, you did a huge service toward their sanity. Speaking of sanity and the potential lack there of, what is going on with your brother anyway?" He asked. "I heard he nearly took Bobby's head off for worrying about his sleep habits."

"There's nothing going on with Sam." Dean said automatically. "He's just tired. A little tightly wound. He's fine. He'll be fine." Again, automatically. Then he sighed. "He remembers more than he should about that facility. Things that didn't happen, I don't know, it's weird."

"What do you mean he remembers things that didn't happen?" Andy asked, very much confused by that statement.

"Good question." Dean said. "It's a lot more fun to go hang out with Gordon than it is to try and get some answers out of him. And he accuses me of being closed off and against caring and sharing." He said with a shake of his head. "It's always, 'talk to me, Dean. Tell me what you're thinking.' But try it with him, and you've got a better chance of carrying on a conversation with George Washington."

"Sounds like he is afraid of worrying you or something. I don't know. You two are weird." Andy said. "Don't take that the wrong way, but man...you are so interconnected yet you don't share anything with each other except space."

"We share lots of things. Food. Money. Beer. Sometimes even clothes." Dean said. "We're not 'weird'. Why does everyone keep saying that?"

"Because you sure as hell aren't normal, man." Andy said with a laugh. "Not that I am either, but hell, at least I admit it. You guys don't talk. You instinctively know each other so well, that you don't talk. You aren't comfortable with talking to each other." He said. "So ... you know... you're weird."

"Dude, you know how many years, collectively, we've been sharing small spaces? Either the Impala or some hotel room? Few times a holding cell or a hospital room. Eventually you run out of things to say." Dean said with a shrug. "I don't know, I'll see if I can get some of that truth serum, sodium pento-something, and make him talk."

"Sure if you want to level the place. You know it lets go of inhibitions in the subject. And with the power levels Sam has demonstrated, and the repressed anger... dude... we'd be lucky to survive."

"Fine. I'll stick to booze then." He said with a chuckle. Dean had no serious need to see his brother on truth serum. Who knew what would come out? And he wasn't talking about Sam's abilities.

"Yep, two beers gets kareoke, who knows what three would get you?" Andy said. "It might get him talking or it might put him to sleep. Not that... that's a bad thing. I mean the last thing I want is to see that man on sleep dep."

"I'm gonna find out what Bobby slipped me and give Sam a dose of it." Dean said. "Should knock him out for a few hours, and you're right. He needs it."

"Yeah he does. Big time." He said as he parked the Barbarian Queen in front of the nearest hardware store, going over the list and sorting out his con in his head for a moment.

Dean waited. Tapped his foot. Played with his lighter. "Okay, just tell him we're taking it." He suggested.

"Taking it? Just having him say okay and have a nice day? Or that we had an order that we are picking up?"

"Sure. We had an order." Dean said with a chuckle. Hey, he was already wanted for murder, what was shoplifting added to that? They headed into the store where a 'McKendrick for President' sign was prominent on the bulletin board. "Wow, this guy's got fans all over." Dean didn't follow politics. He just knew what he caught on the news and what Sam told him.

"He's a presidential candidate now. It's either gonna be his face or the other guys you see everywhere till November. " Andy went looking for the store manager and started talking to him.

The manager listened, and apologized profusely for not having their order ready. He'd just been busy, and it slipped his mind, there wasn't an excuse, but could they forgive him? He went around the store quickly and gathered everything up and signaled one of the stock boys to help him load it in Andy's van. There were a good deal of supplies, but nothing overwhelming that needed a Uhaul truck or anything rented. Dean bit back a grin. Watching Andy work his mojo on other people was amusing, even if it hadn't been so much fun to have it used on him.

"Thank you so much for getting it all together for us so quickly. " He said, almost feeling sorry for him, as they headed out the door to get into the van.

Dean grinned at Andy when they got into the van and headed back to the compound. "Looks like we're going to get a pool after all." He said. "Good job."

"Yeah. Gonna have to start shopping further from base though. DOnt want to get people asking questions when thousands of dollars of supplies disappear with no actual sale. "

"Probably." Dean said. "We're supposed to avoid attention and all that. Ash has our electric and cable hidden pretty good, no one's gonna find that stuff." Ash was a genius, he really was. Even Dean had to admit that.

"And we're on well water, so no one should notice the water useage. " He said with a nod. "Looks like a couple more buildings can be brought on line too. "

"Good idea. Before people get claustrophobic." Dean said. Him and Sam, they were used to tight quarters. Usually the Impala really. Or a hotel room. Spacious living space, not usually.

"Yeah, not everyone understands the finer points of life in a small spaces." He got it. He had thought the Impala was the coolest car ever when he had made Dean hand her over. But even before that he had lived in the Barbarian Queen by choice, rather than circumstance.

"And not everyone wants to learn." Dean said with a chuckle. Not sure what he and Sam would do with space, they'd never really had it. The closest they'd had to space was when Sam was at Stanford, and that didn't count.

"Yeah I know. So how long has it been since you have had your own room?" Andy asked with a grin.

"Last time I was seriously in the hospital." Dean said with a laugh. "Sam got discharged first and got an apartment, and I chased off, scared off, and nearly killed every roommate they tried to set me up with. While in traction!" He said with a grin. "So I had the whole hospital room to myself. Then there were the times Sam went missing. And when Dad and I did separate jobs while Sam was in Stanford...so yeah, I've had my own room before."

"Betting the hospital was the longest you were ever able to stay in one place too."

"Not true." Dean said. "When I was eight, we stayed for ten months, a whole school year, in Texas." Dean said with a grin. "Obviously you didn't get mind reading."

"I can implant images though... from long distance even. There was this one guy..." he began to explain about a particular prig that he had given repeated images of gay porn.

Dean laughed hard. "Man that had to suck." He said. "I'll try not to piss you off." He said still laughing.

"It takes a lot to get me pissed off I promise." Andy said with a grin. "I've always been a pretty laid back kinda guy."

"All that pot." Dean said with a laugh. "I use beer to stay nice and laid back." He said with a grin.

"Would explain why Sam is so uptight." He said with a grin. Everyone knew that Sam didnt indulge in pot and barely managed to handle his beer.

"Sam's always been uptight." Dean said easily. Even though he was the worrier of the two, Sam still managed to be up tight. "I used to think he'd grow out of it. Now I know it's permanent."

"Yeah, some people are like that. I bet he would be that way even if he wasn't a hunter. Just seems one of those ingrained things."

"Then he'd be an uptight tax attorney." Dean said, shaking his head. "At least now he has a chance to get laid."

Andy laughed. "Trust me, he would get laid. Girls like money and attorneys, even tax lawyers make money, throw in the puppy dog eyes and he'd have it made. Wouldn't make bets on him being happy though."

"I don't know. He's not happy now." Dean pointed out. "He always wanted to be normal. Apple pie. Safe. And I can't give that to him. Yet. Working on it."

"Sam has to figure out that you find happiness in what ever situation your in. You wait for everything you want and ... wow life can suck. It did for me before this ability kicked in."

"Yeah, well, he tried to be normal. And that's when this whole mess kicked into high gear." Dean said. "I don'tknow, just wish I could fix it for him. It's kinda my job you know."

"Dude, no it isn't. Your job is to be there for him when he needs you, not make the world perfect for him. Sam has to find his own way in some things. You can't do it for him."

Dean gave him a look. "He's my kid brother. It is my job." He said.

"You two are pathological, you know that?" Andy said shaking his head. "But what's a little codependence when the world is going to hell in a hand baske?"

"We're NOT co-dependent." Dean said. "Why does everyone keep saying that? It's ridiculous."

"Because the two of you can't stand to be apart more than a night at a time, and then only if your getting some, because you feed off of each other's baggage, and you can't go 15 minutes without thinking of each other. And I am going to be nice and add, unless you're getting some, although there is some speculation that you worry about him even then."

"Okay, in my defense, every time Sam's out of my sight he ends up possessed, kidnapped, held hostage, used as an experiment or all around bad things happening to him." Dean pointed out. "Someone's gotta worry about the kid. Dad's not here to do it, Mom's not here to do it, I guess Bobby and you guys do, but it's not the same."

"Yeah I know, man. I do. But you both have got to learn to take care of your own needs too. Otherwise you aren't gonna be any good to each other when it goes to hell again. "

"You know, it used to be, after we got the first guy, we could stop." Dean said. "Now it's wait until the next guy. It never ends. I don't have any real hope to give him, and Sam...he lives on hope."

"I wish there was an easy answer. Believe me I do. It would make my job easier too. I would give just about anything to be able to work my mojo on him. But Sam... I don't think anyone can do anything to help with what's eating at him. Not even you. Cause what's eating Sam... is Sam."

"There's nothing wrong with Sam." Dean said automatically. "I just gotta convince him of that."

"Dude, he turned a guy into a jello sack." Andy said. "It was like watching Dune on acid. That's gotta mess with a guy. I mean... especially a guy like Sam. I dig my abilities. I've never been tortured because of them. But sam... he's ... Dude... there is plenty wrong with Sam. Just not what Sam thinks is wrong."

"Fine. Then what's wrong?" Dean said. He knew where Andy was coming from...but Dean had let countless people incinerate inside that facility because they had dared to touch his brother. Sam did what he did because that guy had sliced Dean's stomach open. Karma and fair play.

"Guilt." Andy said simply. "He feels guilty for what he is, what we are, for what it's done to you, to your family, and for what he has done, and if you say he has memories of things that didn't happen, or of things that happened that we prevented from actually happening... who knows what all he did in that time or what ever it was. "

Dean closed his eyes and exhaled. Well, that was going to be a mofo to work through. "It's not his fault. None of it is." Dean said. Of that he was convinced.

"Hey, you're preaching to the choir here." Andy said. "I know that, I didn't choose to be what I am so I know he didn't. What he went through, no one would choose. Demons and Angels playing chess. That's all it comes down to really and Sam ... Sam's a powerful piece on the board. He makes it to the otherside and the bad guys get their queen back. And that's something that scares the hell out of him."

"Dude, did you just call my brother a queen?" Dean said, shaking his head. "Okay, so the bad guys don't get him no matter what. That's my job. I can do that at least. I think." Well, he'd try. He'd do it or die trying.

"Man, see... there you go again. You can help Sam but you can't fight the battle for his soul for him. It's not how that works. It's Sams... only he can lose it or give it away or sell it. All you can do is be there."

"Well he's not fighting it. So I have to." Dean shot back. "Look, he just has to run this community and all that stuff. It's my job to keep him safe, and I'm not going to fuck that up again."

"Okay, now who has the guilt complex? Dude, you might be the chosen , sword wielding, Demon Slayer of Doom but you can't be everywhere at once. "

"I don't have to be every where at once." Dean said calmly. "I just have to stop them from getting the queen." He said, and he couldn't help but grin at calling Sam a queen.

Andy laughed. "He isn't a queen yet. He's just a pawn... one that is reluctantly being pulled to the other side of the board. You aren't all the other pieces you know. Theres more of us than just you here that can help look out for him. "

He was all the other pieces on the board. He'd always been all the other pieces on the board. But he rolled his eyes. "Fine. Point taken." He said. "Me, you, Ash, Bobby, Josh, Father Reynolds. The rest are in awe of him, or are borderline dismissive." Like Mickey. Still undecided about that Ben.

"Yeah well if you were looking at a total stranger that did what Sam had done, you would be in awe of him too. He's your little brother, awe doesn't come into the equation." Andy pointed out. "We'll figure out how to help him... together. We all care about him too, you know."

"I didn't say you didn't." Dean said. "We'll figure something out." Even if he felt like he was drowning under the weight of it all. Save his brother, save the world, it was all one thing. Couldn't do one without the other.

"Yeah... just remember that We part in there okay?" Andy said as he pulled the van into the compound. "We gotta work on hiding our entrance some how. Just a feeling I got."

"I don't know, know anyone who can super grow some plants for us?" Dean asked.

"Not off hand but we'll see what we can do. It's a good idea. Maybe a gate that we can make look rusty as hell too. " Illusion was the best way really. Make people think there was no real way in and they wouldn't look for anything inside.

"We'll keep the signs saying it's a radioactive area too, maybe move them out a bit more." Dean mused. Whoever had cleaned it up did a good job. No one was sick after all. And Dean knew it would be his luck to be the one that got sick. "Start posting some look out people."

"That's a good idea, I'll get Josh working on the signs. He seems eager to do anything to up the security around here."

"Yeah, he can be a little much. But he knows his stuff." Dean said. "He's been a hunter, before that he was a Marine, plus he's a redneck." Dean said.

"I'm from Oklahoma, remember. Land of red neck. Even the politicians are red necks. I seem to see a pattern with hunters though. A lot of red neck hunters out there. "

"Well, hunting is a red neck thing." Dean said with a laugh. Sometimes he wished he was 'from' somewhere. He was born in Kansas. But after his mom died, well, he and his brother became 'from' everywhere and nowhere.

"I guess it makes sense really. What with all that you have to do. You either become red necks or unibombers"

Ben, his much more common and easily pronouncable name anyway, was laying on his stomach in the middle of the meadow watching Leonidas prance on fluttering butterflies. The small black cat had yet to catch one, but he never stopped trying. He didn't look for Mickey, but knew he was there. Even if the others didn't know it yet.

His own arrival had gone unheralded, which was fine with him. He slipped in quietly, and there was a bit of a sigh of relief that he didn't NEED to eat. He liked to eat, he liked to sleep, but he didn't need to do either of those things. So he just looked over the research a few of the others already had and watched his cat settle in. Leonidas had had a bit more of a difficult time. Here he wasn't the ruler of his domain, no matter who he hissed at. And there were plenty that he hissed at.

"You know what your problem is?" He said to the archangel, never taking his eyes off his cat. "You just never stop and observe. All you do is watch and judge. No wonder your life outside the Gates pretty much sucks." He'd spent most of the last century around colleges, and had picked up a great deal of its vernacular, even as it changed.

Michael shook his head. "It's what I'm supposed to do. " He said simply. "I don't have the luxury of just hanging out with the mortals. I still have a job to do."

Ben chuckled at his cat as he missed yet another butterfly. "Luxury? For a long time I thought it was a curse. Having no purpose any more, having to think of my own." He said with a shrug. "So what's your job now? Azazael's been defeated. That's one headache gone at least." Even if his 'passing' did bring more. "I didn't think your boy could do it, so good work there."

"He was fighting for his brother's soul and both of their lives." Mickey pointed out. "He was nowhere near ready but he didn't have a choice. Next time... next time he may not have the same drive." He knew Dean's training was far from done, but he also knew that pushing it again would do nothing but break him.

"Does he know he's become your one human army?" Ben asked with a raised eyebrow, looking over his shoulder and up at Mickey. "And you know, having a job and still being in His grace doesn't have to necessarily preclude you from having a personality."

Mickey scowled. "I have a personality, and he isn't a one man army. He has an entire base here, other hunters ... he was chosen. That's the way it is. He also chose this way of life before he ever found out about it, so don't go assuming I've taken his choices away."

"Ooh, did I hit a nerve?" Ben asked. "Ever notice how by making a choice, you effectively lose all choice? And you don't have a personality. You have an image. There's a difference. And it's really an obnoxious difference at that."

"And what pray tell do you consider a personality? It may not be one that you like but it's there. Its always been there, it's always going to be there."

"Okay, you don't have free will. I get it. But you're allowed to evolve." Ben said, rolling onto his back and looking up at Michael, propping himself up on his elbows. "You don't have to be that guy who speaks to the mere mortal through a burning bush. Not all the time. Welcome to the twenty first century, Michael."

"I haven't used the burning bush. I talk to people... in person." He said defensively. " I've even been nice to some of them." He added rolling his currently dark eyes.

Ben laughed. "Oh, okay. You've been 'nice' to them. Which means you're not pointing out all the possibly ways they could be damned to hell." He said. "I guess for you that is nice. I think they're bothered by the fact that you don't seem to like them though."

"I... watched a foot ball game." He said. "And I talk to them... including the one that doesn't talk. I like that one... and the priest is worthy of the order. A little too forward at times but a good man."

Ben rolled his eyes. "That's progress. I guess." He said as his kitten came over and flopped tiredly next to him. "So what's next?" He asked, expectantly. "One down, a bunch more to go. Hey, if I get put on the list, you'll warn me, right? For old times' sake?"

"You aren't on the list." Mickey said. "At least not that I have heard. I would know. Right now, it all depends on who makes waves first. I hate waiting, but that's the way it has to play out. You know things are going to go to hell before they get better."

"I know that." Ben said. "I was the one that wrote it down, remember?" One of God's proclaimations. Back in the day. He'd faithfully written it down, and it had been passed down ever since.

"You gonna take sides this time? Or bury your head again?" Michael asked. Lucifer's betrayal of them all had hurt, but Ben's... that was in some ways worse. The others did it out of misguided convictions, or hero worship of their older brother. But Ben had simply stood to the side and watched, as though it didn't matter. And that still stung.

Ben was quiet for a moment, and laid back off his elbows, staring at the sky. Glad he wasn't human, he could look at the sun without going blind. "We're back to that again?" He said quietly. "No one told me I had to take a side. I don't take sides, I'm not supposed to. I'm supposed to record, not judge. What I'm doing now goes so far against my grain sometimes I feel my skin crawl." Aiding the hunters. Choosing a side however passively. "No one told me until it was too late that we were all taking sides!" He said emphatically. "And don't you think I've paid for that? Haven't I paid enough?"

"Paid? You haven't paid. You get to sit back and enjoy your life like a human. What pay?" Mickey shouted. "You get the best of both worlds and still you mope. You're as bad as the humans."

"I have no home!" Ben shouted back, getting up. Mickey was taller than him, archangels were supposed to be imposing. But the form God had chosen for Ben wasn't exactly short either. "I have no family. I have no purpose. I wish I was human, because then this torment could end! I'm the soccer ball kicked off the moon, sent into a spin, flailing around looking for some source of gravity and I'm not finding it! Paid? You don't think I've paid? You spout off about free will and consequences like a knowledgable scribe, when you're spouting off what I wrote down! You quote my words like an expert, then ask me for help, then condescend and accuse me? Say I haven't paid? You think I enjoy this? Anyone I possibly make a connection to dies. And I never see them again. There is no paradise for me, there is no salvation. It's maddening, and you think I haven't paid?"

"No! You haven't! Do you know how many died! How many cared enough to take a side died? They just... ceased to exist. Not merely archangels. All the choirs lost members to the battle, pain, searing pain and then nothing. They don't have a paradise to go to either. You abandoned us. You left us to face it without you because you didn't know you had to take a side. You sat on the sidelines like a human at the colliseum, because you didn't know you had to take a side."

Ben put his arms out. "That's right. I didn't know. To take a side would have meant some free will, because I was made to observe. Observe and record, and I did so faithfully. I thought I was doing my job! And I did my job. I can name you every single angel that died. Every single angel that cried in pain, I can describe it in vivid, horrible detail. And I see it all the time!" And it haunted him. In ways that Michael could never understand, because he was righteous. But Ben's memory was a gift, and it was a curse. "I did my job, I did my purpose. He never told me to stop and pick up a weapon. Fine, He was busy. I get that. Now. But no free will means no free will. You wanted me to make a choice I was incapable of making!"

"Then why are you here instead of above? Why did HE in his perfection cast you out for something you were incapable of doing differently?" Mickey countered. He could no more believe in God making a mistake than he could believe that Lucifer had made the right decision and had done it for the benefit of all angel kind, rather than to feed his own pride.

"I don't know!" Ben shouted. "I'm not all knowing like Him! And He doesn't have to explain himself, least of all to me. He has His reasons, and He chooses not to share them, but in the meanwhile I'm stuck in a void, waiting out my penance with all the patience I can muster. You think it's so easy to act like a human? To not fall like the rest of them? To lose this shape, the last thing He gave me? If you think it's easy, you really don't know anything. You're still in His light. You don't feel the pull from Lucifer every single moment. You don't hear the promises he makes in your ear when you're weakened. You can't understand."

"You're right. I don't understand. I don't understand any of it. And as much as I want to believe it's some part of His divine plan... I just can't stop seeing you on the side line scribbling madly away." He shook his head. Ben didn't understand how much that ate at him. He supposed no one but another archangel would.

The one small consolation Ben held to was his 'scribbling'. Because he did, it made its way down to Man. And they knew of the sacrifices of his brethren. But it was such a small comfort, really. "Then why did you ask me here, Michael?" Ben asked. "Your world is black and white. And I'm black. Am I here as a cautionary tale? Of what happens if these kids don't join the fight in some way? Am I here to make you feel better about yourself? Why?" He demanded.

"Because you haven't given in to Luc...Because you're my brother..." He said quietly. And that was what it all boiled down too. He felt responsible for those of his bretheren less martially capable like any older brother looking out for the younger ones. Ben was vulnerable, especially where Lucifer and his minions were concerned. This was the only way he could protect him... even then unofficially.

"Why now?" Ben challenged. "Is it all going to happen that fast? I don't understand. There is no place for me in Heaven. There's only this. This endless existence that stretches on forever. If it all ends, I get to sit outside the gates and listen to the wolves howl."

"You chose to come here, little brother. I didn't do it. You and the Winchesters decided it was a good idea. You make the right choices now. It's in flux right now... whether it's going to come or not. But there is a chance that it's going to go down hill fast in the next few years. "

"Fine. I chose. Is that what you're really mad about? That now I get to choose?" Ben asked, shaking his head. "The whole timetable has been moved up. By centuries. Nothing's right, everything's off. We're at a disadvantage you know."

"Apparently Luc was able to choose too, wasn't he? Free will leads to damnation." Mickey said with a sigh. That was the center of it. Free will was the excuse given for every evil that had been perpetrated since the dawn of time. Beginning with Lucifer and cascading to new depths of depravity with human kind. Performing acts of evil that not even the fallen could take credit for. "And yes... we're at a serious disadvantage. That's why they need you."

Ben laughed. "Mick, I have a photographic memory, with a camera thatI can't turn off. I can tell you exactly what order Ash at his food today. Not because I really want to know, but because that's just the way I am. If I were human, I'd have been insane long ago. I don't really know what possible use I can be, I don't fight, and any off color jokes I might know will hardly turn the tide of battle. But Michael...you need to remember as well. That free will can also lead to salvation. Please, please keep that in mind."

Michael sighed and leaned against the nearest tree. "So I've been told. Free will has been the excuse for letting so many things happen. No you can't prevent the war in HIS name, they have free will. No you can't keep the bastards from torturing HIS chosen people to death, because the bastards have free will. "

Ben got up from the ground with a sigh and put his hand on his oldest brother's shoulder. "True. And free will also is the reason that common people risked their lives to save strangers from holocausts. Free will had people standing up for injustices and making change. Free will is the young man who helps the old woman load her groceries. Free will is the firefighter who runs into a fire to save children. Free will is the child on her knees praying to Him not for herself, not for a toy, but for someone else."

"Do you have any idea how few those are in comparison to the others?" Michael asked, heart broken. "Yet HE loves them all. Even the ones that turn onHIM, even those that deny HIM."

"God loves all his creations." Ben said. "He is the Holy Father after all, He didn't take that title lightly. Maybe...maybe you need to stop thinking along that trail of thought. About why He loves them."

"He loves them because they have a choice in whether they love him back." Michael growled. "I have no choice,but it doesn't matter. Days like today I almost understand Luc. "

Ben looked at Michael in horror. "Don't say that." He said. "Don't even think it. You don't want to go down that route. Believe me. It's not worth it. It's a horrible route, trust me, I know."

"Almost understanding. Hell, even if I understood completely, doesn't mean I would ever go down that path. Makes me wonder sometimes though... How he could actually manage it... if none of us have free will, how did he and the others manage to ..." he shook his head and shut the thoughts from his mind quickly. That way lay madness for an angel. Particularly one as single minded and loyal as Michael. For him the war wasn't over yet. It never would be. How could it be? It was his job to look over those that continued his work. It would never be done until Lucifer was bound.

Ben wondered about that too. But he was intensely curious by nature. More so than Mickey was. But the only answer he could come up with that made sense was that it was all God's plan. In one way or another. Otherwise that would mean there was a flaw, and that wouldn't happen. But he knew better than to tell Mickey that. That would start him off again. "You need a hobby." He said with a nod. "Or a pet."

"A pet... what would I do with a pet?" He asked looking at the little black kitten. "A ferocious predator... and you call it cute and cuddly... and a pet."

"What would you do with a pet?" Ben asked, stooping to pick up the black ball of fur scratching at his leg. "You feed it, and play with it, wash it when it needs it, get it toys, you can even have playdates. Though that's usually with dogs. And he's not a ferocious predator, he's not a panther."

"Tell that to the butterflies he is terrorizing, or the mice and birds that he was created to eat." Mickey pointed out. "What sort of cat would he be without being a predator?"

Ben scowled. "You mean the butterflies he's failed to catch? And the mice and birds he doesn't eat because I spend a fortune on cat food." He held the cat right up to Mickey. "Come on, he's adorable. And fluffy."

Mickey blinked and pulled his head back, but reached out to scratch the the kitten behind the ears. "He doesn't eat mice and birds or snakes because he isn't big enough."

"You know why you're miserable? Because you're a pessimist. Next you're going to tell me that he's going to try and eat me one night when he gets big enough." Ben said as the kitten purred.

"He won't ever get big enough...and what makes you think I am being a pessimist by calling an animal made to hunt down mice and birds and snakes a predator? What's wrong with being a predator? I just don't see what's so precious about it, is all."

"You pidgeonholed him. He's not even neutered yet and you pidgeonholed him into being a predator. He can be more than that you know. Entertainment. Company. Comfort. Something that sheds all over my clothes and tears up my furniture." Ben said. "Fine, he's a predator. But that's not all he is. But it's all you see."

"You're gonna get him neutered?" Mickey asked wrinkling his nose a little. "You know, I'd watch it when you sleep. That could be enough to make him consider eating you when he's grown."

"Possibly." Ben said with a laugh. "At least I vetoed getting him declawed." He put the kitten back down so it could curl up in a patch of sun and doze. "But that's your problem, you pidgeon hole people."

"Maybe... I know there are good people in the world. I also know how few of them there are. Most people aren't evil. Don't get me wrong. They are well behaved and non-violent, but their hearts... the things they think and feel and wish for...and those are the majority of humanity."

"And with their free will, they're well behaved and non-violent. Gotta give them credit for that." Ben pointed out.

"Doesn't make them good. Just makes them... not bad." Mickey said with a sigh.

"And 'not bad' is a good start." Ben said. "It'sa lot more than some people can say. 'Not bad' is the new good I think."

"That's just it, Ben... there is no new good, there is only the old good. But they don't want to commit to virtue because that would cost them too much."

"You know, you should take what you can get. Because you're not going to change them." Ben said. "One could make an argument that your boy is guilty of some of the cardinal sins after all. Lust, gluttony, possibly wrath. But he was chosen anyway."

"He was chosen before he himself chose to do those things. Believe me I know what he has done. I just don't understand these humans. They are given the greatest gift... two of them really ... yet all they do is complain that God isn't their personal genie in the lamp."

"They're children." Ben said patiently. "They don't understand, and very few of them are capable of understanding. So we have to wait patiently by, no matter how much we just want to rain down fire and ash, and wait for them to grow up."

"I know." He said and began to pace. Do you have any idea what it's like to realise that the best heart amongst them belongs to a man who can't remember how many women he has slept with?"

"I don't know what one has to do with the other." Ben said. "Love and sex are two completely different things. So's his heart and...his...well...you know." Ben said, shaking his head. "You could look at it as him celebrating...often...the fact that God gave humans those nice interlocking bodies and all. That whole premarital sex thing was started up by prudish mortal men who wanted to control women."

Mickey sighed. "I need to go... with things heating up, I need to take care of a few things. Keep an eye on the boys. They are trouble magnets."

"I've noticed." Ben said with a chuckle. "I'll do my best, but I'm a little less fearsome than you, remember. Always was."

"I don't think you need to be fearsome. But they are more likely to listen to you than me."

"Yeah, we'll see." Ben said with a shake of his head. What did he know? He'd never led an army...or anyone for that matter. He was a historian. At his best in the academic setting. So maybe Sam. Probably not Dean.

"Relax...you aren't in charge here. That's Sam's job. All you need to do is advise and hope they listen."

"Keep your fingers crossed for me." He said with a chuckle. "That they listen, and they don't find a way to banish me into the void. Not quite ready for that." He still had hope.

"They can't banish you without HIS approval. You're safe enough." Mickey said. Ben was where and what he was for a reason. Not that either of them understood it, but they didn't need to understand, simply to obey.

"Okay. Good point." Ben said. "Hey, do me a favor. If you go somewhere populated, stop at a gift store. They're fun."

"What is it you want me to pick up for you?" Michael asked with a confused look.

Ben rolled his eyes and sighed. "You're supposed to pick up the tackiest, wackiest, dumbest, most useless thing that you can possibly get." He said patiently. "It's one of man kind's greatest inventions...gift stores and tourist traps."

Mickey gave him a look of utter lack of comprehension. "Oookay." He said and faded from sight. "You have gone completely native, you know that." Came the disembodied voice, then nothing.

Ben shook his head with a grin. Michael would probably walk in, walk back out in disgust and pout in his own way at being defiled like that. Though Ben honestly did enjoy gift shops. And street fairs. And carnivals, especially the Renaissance Festival, they made it look so clean and joyful. Ah, revisionist history.

Sam hadn't slept as well as he had pretended to the night before. He pretended for Dean's sake. Dean had a deep seated need to make sure Sam was okay. Even if there was nothing he could do.

"Hey, you getting settled in okay?" He asked Ben, as he rubbed at the stubble he hadnt bothered to deal with.

"Oh yeah, everyone's been great." Ben said. "As soon as they stopped walking on eggshells. Think they finally get that I don't have, nor ever had, the power to rain down fire and level whole cities with a glare." He said with a chuckle. "You look tired."

"Yeah, it's a permanent expression I think." Sam said with a smile."They will get used to you. I think they will like you. Give 'em a little time. Ash is already singing your praises, so it shouldn't take long."

Ben laughed. "Of course they'll like me. I have Leonidas. When in doubt, bring an adorable furball, and it does the trick every time." He said holding his black kitten, who knew he was being praised and purred in response.

"You named a kitten after a Spartan. That's a lot for a little guy to live up to." Sam said as he reached out to stroke the kitten's fur.

"Nah, not for this cat." Ben said with a grin. "He'll make it look easy. Already had offers to watch him if I have to leave and he can't come with."

"I don't doubt it. Especially around here. So what do you think of our little sanctuary?" Sam asked. They were doing well for what they were with what they had, he thought. He would like to give them more but right now there wasn't much he could do about it.

"It's nice. Quiet." Ben said. "But what you need is a pool. And it could even be a group project. Pools are good, recreation for all really. And it will get hot here in the summer."

"That's not a bad idea. I'll talk to Andy and Bobby and see what they think we can pull off. They have been around a lot more than I have, got a better idea of what people are capable of." He and Dean had been off in search of the sword after all.

"It was just a suggestion." He said. In his observing experience, pools pulled people together. They could have parties there, relaxing time there, recreation time...just about everything. And water (when it wasn't being used to flood the world) was immensely calming.

"It's a good one. I think we all need a break from... worrying about what's out there. We're all a little shell shocked still I think. Especially since there was more than Azazel after us."

"I can see how that can be heavy." Ben said. He'd had things after him since the war also. But this was hardly the time or place for one upmanship. "So we'll see what we need. I once made a pool. Years ago. Think I remember how." Which was an inside joke, Ben never forgot anything.

Sam chuckled. "You probably have us all beat." He said. "I don't suppose you've seen my brother around this morning, have you?"

"Don't quote me." Ben said with laughing eyes. "But I think he's sleeping. Because I think I saw Bobby Singer slip something into his beer. Something about him not sleeping or some such."

Sam grinned a little. Good thing Bobby was easier to fool than Dean or the ... man... before him or it would be Sam that had been slipped a mickey and not his brother. "Good. He needs it."

"There was the theory that if he wasn't staring at you, maybe you'd get sleep." Ben said. He wasn't easy to fool. He just seemed that way sometime. "So it was an experiment. The result is that we have one rested Winchester brother, instead of no rested Winchester brother. I guess it's progress?"

"Considering Dean has the worse temper." He said, which wasn't true by a long shot, but Sam didn't realize that. "It's definitely progress."

"Dean has the more hair trigger temper. There's a difference." Ben said gently. "I'm lucky, I don't need to sleep. And even if I did, Leonidas does more than my share anyway. So how are people really doing here? I think I'm getting the best face right now."

"We're all pretty ragged. I spent a very short time in the government's care." It was only a half lie. He remembered years, but he had only been there a little more than a day. "The others have been there for years. A lot of PTSD, alot of reality to come to terms with. On top of having to learn to control abilities that were pushed to powerful levels before we could control even the easy stuff. Then there's the people stuck with dealing with the rest of us." He laughed a little at that. "Wouldn't surprise me if Bobby was in as much need of sleep as Dean. In other words... about as well as can be expected and not nearly as well as we pretend."

"Yeah I guessed that." Ben said with a nod. "But your only choice is to keep on going, as much as that choice might suck somedays. So let's see what we can do about a pool, it's at least something. Then we can figure out everything else step by step."

"Yeah, that's all we can do. It's all we have been doing." Sam shook his head. "Come on, I will introduce you to some of the others. That is if Ash hasn't already shown you off to the entire colony." He said with a grin.

Ben laughed. "He's excitable, but he's a good egg." He said. "But I love people, so on with the tour!"

Sam grinned. "First stop, the kitchen. I'm starving." He said with a laugh and led the way. He knew someone would be in there this time of day.

"I bet. Sorry I kept you from your meal." He said, sincerely. "I forget humans have to do things like eat...sleep...shower..." He said with a laugh. "I"ve been bouncing between different colleges for the last twenty years."

"I remember college life. Students tended to forget things like eat...sleep ... shower." Sam said with a grin. "No wonder you get confused."

"Thankfully I never had to deal with them not showering. At least not for long. Great ventilation systems, I always insisted on it." He said with a laugh as they headed into the kitchen, where he got his cat a shallow bowl of milk.

Sam raided the fridge for sandwich fixings. He still hadn't gotten used to having real meals again. "Did you ever teach out at Stanford?" He asked trying to make normal conversation.

"I did." Ben said, sitting on the counter as Leonidas drank his milk. "About...fifteen years ago? Did this whole series on occult manifestation in pop culture. The courses people get paid to teach!"

"I was there a few years ago. Wow... 8 years ago. If I had stayed in school, I wouldbe the ultimate evil on earth. A tax lawyer." He said. "What's worse, I think I would have been bored out of my mind."

"I know people who would say the true evil is divorce lawyers." He said. "I have this fellow historian, he specializes in WWII, when he got divorced, his ex's lawyer snagged her a certain percentage of all his books. Even the ones he hasn't written yet."

"Damn...I knew I picked the wrong specialization. But to be honest I was hoping to avoid being needed to represent any of my family." He said with a laugh. Divorce and trial lawyers were entirely too probable.

"Hey, at least you have a justice system." Ben pointed out as he found a can of tuna fish and opened it. "Where I come from, it's one strike and you're out. Okay, so it was a very big strike. But no due process or anything."

"Yeah but our judges are only human." Sam pointed out. "You want one? " He asked before wrapping the the food and putting it back in the fridge. He then waved to Dierdre who entered the room.

"I'm fine." He said, waving off the offer of food. He ate in social situations because it was expected. That was about it. Otherwise, he didn't need to eat at all. He waved at Dierdre when the girl came into the room. "Hello." He said. "I'm Ben." Easier name to go by.

She smiled at him and waved. So this is Michael's bother.. so much easier to think of him that way than as a demon. He doesn't feel like a demon. and Sam wouldn't bring a real demon here. Not a real one.

"Nah, I'm in limbo. Neither one nor the other. Though sometimes I like to think of it as a really really long time out." Ben said with a chuckle. "You must be Miss Blue." He'd asked Michael to give him the run down. When he got to Diedre, he said "She's blue." "Like sad?" Ben had questioned. "No, like the color."

She smiled a little. I'm Dierdre. She thought. I'm glad you can hear me. I was going to miss having someone to talk to since Mickey left.

"Oh he'll be back." Ben assured her. "He just had to go take care of some of his normal business. He left the sword for Dean, after all."

She nodded. He said he would be back. He's very nice to me. Doesn't ask me to speak out loud. I like that. The others think they are helping but they aren't. It just gets frustrating. He understood.

"The others think he's not as nice." Ben said, knowing Sam was still in the kitchen. But Michael was his brother. Someone had to defend him. "He comes across that way, I know. He's just battle scarred."

I know. We all are. He gets a little too lost in his philosophy sometimes. Hurts people's feelings to be told its our own fault we were screwed up as babies and tortured for it later. I know he doesn't mean it that way but ... it's hard to hear it anyway.

"He spends a lot of time down here. More so than Home. His philosophy he thinks is the only thing that separates him from you. And to do his job, he needs to be separate, so he holds to it probably tighter than he should."

I guess. I thought he was supposed to watch over us... protect us. That's what the prayer to him is about. That probably makes him crazy too I guess.

"He does." Ben said. "But he's still not like anyone on this planet. He's not even really like everyone else in Heaven. He holds himself apart, because he's held higher. Before God created even dark and light, He created Michael."

Not sure if that sucks, or if it's the coolest thing ever. I mean... the first creation of God... the first thing He thought to create and it's you... and then your snot nosed arrogant little brother gets to sit at His left hand... which wasn't a bad place to be until the snot nosed little brother made it... well.. sinister.

"It wasn't sinister until he made it so." Ben said. "And that's what he fears. Pride. Lucifer's greatest sin, really, was developing the amount of pride that he did. And humans, well, you're full of pride. It's the way you were made, it's all right. But he's so afraid of heading down Lucifer's road...he didn't wake up one day and decide to try and overthrow God."

Pride isn't all bad... there is good pride and then there is arrogance. Michael isn't lacking in pride either. Or at least he thinks he's better than we are... even if he is nice to me.

"You're wrong. God created angels. He created the sun and the moon, and the fish and the beasts. But his greatest creation was you." He said, pointing at Diedre. "He demanded we bow down before His greatest creation, made in His own image. Lucifer refused, there was no way some mortal piece of flesh could be better than him. His sin of pride. Michael? He was the first to bow. I know, I was there."

I guess... but obedience has nothing to do with how someone feels. It just means he obeyed. Not that he agreed. Oh well. Doesn't matter if he agreed or not or what he thinks of humans really. I don't think anyone here other than Bobby, Dean and Ash are really what you could call human anyway. Well... Josh too.

"You're human." Ben said. "Whoever convinced you that you were anything else is wrong, even if that person was you."

They did things to us when we were little. they changed us. We started out human enough but... we're different now.

"They changed you, more like amplified you, but you're not non human." Ben said. "I would give anything to be human most days. The other days I just want to go home."

Dierdre impulsively stepped forward to hug the outcast angel. Until then you have us, she thought, knowing how he felt, even if her idea of home was something a good deal different. Even if she was human by his his estimation, she didn't feel like she was.

"Yeah I guess I do." He said with a chuckle. "And Leonidas." He said as Dierdre pulled away. He picked the cat up. "This is the real scene stealer right here."

She laughed softly and started to play with the kitten, getting him to bat at her fingers.

Sam smiled as he leaned against the wall, eating his sandwich. It was good to hear sound coming from the girl. Even if it was just laughter. It was the little things that made him feel that everything might just be alright after all.

Ben grinned watching the two of them and looked at Sam with a nod. It was the little things, it really was. And little things were enough, they eventually led to bigger things.

"So it looks like you have kitten sitter all lined up there." Sam said, nodding to Dierdre. "From the looks of it, you could pay her in bandaids."

"He's exceedingly gentle." Ben said. At least with those needing gentleness. The cat had an inner way of knowing that. With Ben, he's scratch and bite. With Dierdre he'd probably purr and playfully swipe. "She'll wear him right out."

"Shall we leave them to play while we continue the tour?" Sam asked. If the others reacted to cats this way, he might have to break into the humane society and liberate some animals. That thought made him grin even wider.

"I think Leonidas is properly entertained." Ben agreed. "Could start a whole petting zoo and Dierdre wouldn't mind."

"Don't tempt me. Right after we sort out that whole swimming pool situation." Sam said with a smile.

"What swimming pool situation?" Bobby asked as he came in to the kitchen.

"We're going to build a pool." Ben said. "A nice community project with great benefits...in that when we're done, we have a pool."

Sam laughed. "It was either that or a petting zoo."

"You need more sleep." Bobby said figuring exhaustion was playing a part here. "Where are we gonna get the supplies for a swimming pool?"

"Hardware store." Ben said as he grabbed a piece of paper and started jotting down what he remembered. Which was everything. Bobby had to bite back a chuckle as he took the list. Compared to the only other angel type he knew, Michael, Ben was nearly overflowing with wide eyed innocence in some ways. Amazing when you considered he was the banished one of the two. "It'll work." Ben said. "Some work, but it'll work."

"Guess we need to find out who wants to put in the work to get a pool, and have Andy start working on getting supplies for it." Sam said with a smile.

"A group project might not be a bad idea." Bobby agreed grudgingly. But he wasn't the swimming pool type. Didn't mean some of the others weren't.

"That's what I was thinking." Ben said with a nod.

"Right then... " Sam said with a nod. "I can get Andy started on the supplies and set up a sign up list." He looked to Bobby. "Thanks for knocking Dean out last night. He needed the sleep."

"So do you." Bobby said with a hrmph. "I was hoping if he wasn't checking in on you all the time, you'd get some too."

Sams smile faded a little. "I don't see that happening any time soon." Sam said. "It's alright. I'll sleep eventually. Don't worry."

Bobby scowled. "You never buy that line with your brother, why should we buy it with you?" Bobby said. "Don't worry you say. If your last name is Winchester, I'm going to worry." Because he'd never met such pig headed obstinate men in all his life. The worst part? It was obviously hereditary.

Sam gave Bobby a look worthy of John himself. "When I have time and inclination to sleep, I'll sleep. You can worry all you want to, it's not going to change anything."

Bobby did the same thing when he was faced with such a look from John himself. Shook his head and rolled his eyes. Gave a sigh. Sam was fighting a losing battle with himself, didn't have much to do with what Bobby did or said. "I realize that." Bobby said. "Doesn't stop me from worrying though."

Sam sighed. "I'm alright." He said once more. "Come on... let's go see about getting this swimming pool project started."

Dean came out of his room finally, and blinked against the sunlight. Two beers. Damn, he was getting old or something. He felt it today! He swore he didn't move all night, instead he'd just flopped and then next thing he knew it was a day and a half later. Maybe more. Certainly not this bright when he fell asleep.

Nope, he was drugged. It was a trick that was supposed to only be played on Sam. Sam probably did it. He was sneaky like that. In New Orleans, after...everything...when Dean would turn down his morphine, or in some cases turn it off, he'd go to sleep and wake up with it on, and his brother having a slightly guilty expression and asking 'how he slept' or some such bullshit. Yup. Had to be Sammy. Or Bobby. Or maybe they were cahoots together. That was also a possibility.

Just because you were paranoid didn't mean they weren't after you.

Andy was coming down the hall staring at a list of things on a piece of paper. "Swimming pool. One angel shows up and they want training and swords and the next one wants a swimming pool." He said more to himself than anything.

"Huh?" Dean asked. Was he still asleep and having some fucked up dream? Because Andy wasn't making sense. Oh he remembered about Ben. And he definitely remembered Mickey. But swimming pools? Where did that come into the equation. "Hey, Andy...how much did I drink last night?" If he forgot how much he drank (had to be more than two beers, he wasn't Sammy), then maybe he had to expand his dating pool to the AA crowd.

"Not much. Bobby thought you could use a little sleep." He said, knowing it wasn't exactly a secret "Figured if you stopped staring at Sam he might sleep. Didn't work, but hey you got some rest finally."

"I was fine." Dean said, and it came out cranky even to his own ears. He ran a hand over his face and hair. "Okay, so angels and pools? You lost me."

"Ben thinks a great community project. Get every one involved in the construction... and of course in the partying in it afterwards. Me... I have to go and mojo the supplies."

Dean laughed. "That's what you get for being co in charge person." He said with a grin. "Come on, I'll ride along. You can tell me what I've missed in my drugged out state, since we both know Sam won't tell me shit. Like I'm made of glass or something."

"Co incharge person... more like the guy with the magic voice." He said with a chuckle. "And hey yeah, come along. Could use the company. Zoe is off with Father Reynolds taking care of some of the more... skittish members."

Made sense. Zoe was so small and quiet and unassuming, she'd be best with the skittish ones. "How are the skittish members doing?" There were many reasons why they were skittish, and none of them were easily resolved. But he was warming to the idea of a pool, the more he thought about it.

"They are doing better now that old yellow eyes is dead. I think they were too afraid to hope with him still running around. So, you did a huge service toward their sanity. Speaking of sanity and the potential lack there of, what is going on with your brother anyway?" He asked. "I heard he nearly took Bobby's head off for worrying about his sleep habits."

"There's nothing going on with Sam." Dean said automatically. "He's just tired. A little tightly wound. He's fine. He'll be fine." Again, automatically. Then he sighed. "He remembers more than he should about that facility. Things that didn't happen, I don't know, it's weird."

"What do you mean he remembers things that didn't happen?" Andy asked, very much confused by that statement.

"Good question." Dean said. "It's a lot more fun to go hang out with Gordon than it is to try and get some answers out of him. And he accuses me of being closed off and against caring and sharing." He said with a shake of his head. "It's always, 'talk to me, Dean. Tell me what you're thinking.' But try it with him, and you've got a better chance of carrying on a conversation with George Washington."

"Sounds like he is afraid of worrying you or something. I don't know. You two are weird." Andy said. "Don't take that the wrong way, but man...you are so interconnected yet you don't share anything with each other except space."

"We share lots of things. Food. Money. Beer. Sometimes even clothes." Dean said. "We're not 'weird'. Why does everyone keep saying that?"

"Because you sure as hell aren't normal, man." Andy said with a laugh. "Not that I am either, but hell, at least I admit it. You guys don't talk. You instinctively know each other so well, that you don't talk. You aren't comfortable with talking to each other." He said. "So ... you know... you're weird."

"Dude, you know how many years, collectively, we've been sharing small spaces? Either the Impala or some hotel room? Few times a holding cell or a hospital room. Eventually you run out of things to say." Dean said with a shrug. "I don't know, I'll see if I can get some of that truth serum, sodium pento-something, and make him talk."

"Sure if you want to level the place. You know it lets go of inhibitions in the subject. And with the power levels Sam has demonstrated, and the repressed anger... dude... we'd be lucky to survive."

"Fine. I'll stick to booze then." He said with a chuckle. Dean had no serious need to see his brother on truth serum. Who knew what would come out? And he wasn't talking about Sam's abilities.

"Yep, two beers gets kareoke, who knows what three would get you?" Andy said. "It might get him talking or it might put him to sleep. Not that... that's a bad thing. I mean the last thing I want is to see that man on sleep dep."

"I'm gonna find out what Bobby slipped me and give Sam a dose of it." Dean said. "Should knock him out for a few hours, and you're right. He needs it."

"Yeah he does. Big time." He said as he parked the Barbarian Queen in front of the nearest hardware store, going over the list and sorting out his con in his head for a moment.

Dean waited. Tapped his foot. Played with his lighter. "Okay, just tell him we're taking it." He suggested.

"Taking it? Just having him say okay and have a nice day? Or that we had an order that we are picking up?"

"Sure. We had an order." Dean said with a chuckle. Hey, he was already wanted for murder, what was shoplifting added to that? They headed into the store where a 'McKendrick for President' sign was prominent on the bulletin board. "Wow, this guy's got fans all over." Dean didn't follow politics. He just knew what he caught on the news and what Sam told him.

"He's a presidential candidate now. It's either gonna be his face or the other guys you see everywhere till November. " Andy went looking for the store manager and started talking to him.

The manager listened, and apologized profusely for not having their order ready. He'd just been busy, and it slipped his mind, there wasn't an excuse, but could they forgive him? He went around the store quickly and gathered everything up and signaled one of the stock boys to help him load it in Andy's van. There were a good deal of supplies, but nothing overwhelming that needed a Uhaul truck or anything rented. Dean bit back a grin. Watching Andy work his mojo on other people was amusing, even if it hadn't been so much fun to have it used on him.

"Thank you so much for getting it all together for us so quickly. " He said, almost feeling sorry for him, as they headed out the door to get into the van.

Dean grinned at Andy when they got into the van and headed back to the compound. "Looks like we're going to get a pool after all." He said. "Good job."

"Yeah. Gonna have to start shopping further from base though. DOnt want to get people asking questions when thousands of dollars of supplies disappear with no actual sale. "

"Probably." Dean said. "We're supposed to avoid attention and all that. Ash has our electric and cable hidden pretty good, no one's gonna find that stuff." Ash was a genius, he really was. Even Dean had to admit that.

"And we're on well water, so no one should notice the water useage. " He said with a nod. "Looks like a couple more buildings can be brought on line too. "

"Good idea. Before people get claustrophobic." Dean said. Him and Sam, they were used to tight quarters. Usually the Impala really. Or a hotel room. Spacious living space, not usually.

"Yeah, not everyone understands the finer points of life in a small spaces." He got it. He had thought the Impala was the coolest car ever when he had made Dean hand her over. But even before that he had lived in the Barbarian Queen by choice, rather than circumstance.

"And not everyone wants to learn." Dean said with a chuckle. Not sure what he and Sam would do with space, they'd never really had it. The closest they'd had to space was when Sam was at Stanford, and that didn't count.

"Yeah I know. So how long has it been since you have had your own room?" Andy asked with a grin.

"Last time I was seriously in the hospital." Dean said with a laugh. "Sam got discharged first and got an apartment, and I chased off, scared off, and nearly killed every roommate they tried to set me up with. While in traction!" He said with a grin. "So I had the whole hospital room to myself. Then there were the times Sam went missing. And when Dad and I did separate jobs while Sam was in Stanford...so yeah, I've had my own room before."

"Betting the hospital was the longest you were ever able to stay in one place too."

"Not true." Dean said. "When I was eight, we stayed for ten months, a whole school year, in Texas." Dean said with a grin. "Obviously you didn't get mind reading."

"I can implant images though... from long distance even. There was this one guy..." he began to explain about a particular prig that he had given repeated images of gay porn.

Dean laughed hard. "Man that had to suck." He said. "I'll try not to piss you off." He said still laughing.

"It takes a lot to get me pissed off I promise." Andy said with a grin. "I've always been a pretty laid back kinda guy."

"All that pot." Dean said with a laugh. "I use beer to stay nice and laid back." He said with a grin.

"Would explain why Sam is so uptight." He said with a grin. Everyone knew that Sam didnt indulge in pot and barely managed to handle his beer.

"Sam's always been uptight." Dean said easily. Even though he was the worrier of the two, Sam still managed to be up tight. "I used to think he'd grow out of it. Now I know it's permanent."

"Yeah, some people are like that. I bet he would be that way even if he wasn't a hunter. Just seems one of those ingrained things."

"Then he'd be an uptight tax attorney." Dean said, shaking his head. "At least now he has a chance to get laid."

Andy laughed. "Trust me, he would get laid. Girls like money and attorneys, even tax lawyers make money, throw in the puppy dog eyes and he'd have it made. Wouldn't make bets on him being happy though."

"I don't know. He's not happy now." Dean pointed out. "He always wanted to be normal. Apple pie. Safe. And I can't give that to him. Yet. Working on it."

"Sam has to figure out that you find happiness in what ever situation your in. You wait for everything you want and ... wow life can suck. It did for me before this ability kicked in."

"Yeah, well, he tried to be normal. And that's when this whole mess kicked into high gear." Dean said. "I don'tknow, just wish I could fix it for him. It's kinda my job you know."

"Dude, no it isn't. Your job is to be there for him when he needs you, not make the world perfect for him. Sam has to find his own way in some things. You can't do it for him."

Dean gave him a look. "He's my kid brother. It is my job." He said.

"You two are pathological, you know that?" Andy said shaking his head. "But what's a little codependence when the world is going to hell in a hand baske?"

"We're NOT co-dependent." Dean said. "Why does everyone keep saying that? It's ridiculous."

"Because the two of you can't stand to be apart more than a night at a time, and then only if your getting some, because you feed off of each other's baggage, and you can't go 15 minutes without thinking of each other. And I am going to be nice and add, unless you're getting some, although there is some speculation that you worry about him even then."

"Okay, in my defense, every time Sam's out of my sight he ends up possessed, kidnapped, held hostage, used as an experiment or all around bad things happening to him." Dean pointed out. "Someone's gotta worry about the kid. Dad's not here to do it, Mom's not here to do it, I guess Bobby and you guys do, but it's not the same."

"Yeah I know, man. I do. But you both have got to learn to take care of your own needs too. Otherwise you aren't gonna be any good to each other when it goes to hell again. "

"You know, it used to be, after we got the first guy, we could stop." Dean said. "Now it's wait until the next guy. It never ends. I don't have any real hope to give him, and Sam...he lives on hope."

"I wish there was an easy answer. Believe me I do. It would make my job easier too. I would give just about anything to be able to work my mojo on him. But Sam... I don't think anyone can do anything to help with what's eating at him. Not even you. Cause what's eating Sam... is Sam."

"There's nothing wrong with Sam." Dean said automatically. "I just gotta convince him of that."

"Dude, he turned a guy into a jello sack." Andy said. "It was like watching Dune on acid. That's gotta mess with a guy. I mean... especially a guy like Sam. I dig my abilities. I've never been tortured because of them. But sam... he's ... Dude... there is plenty wrong with Sam. Just not what Sam thinks is wrong."

"Fine. Then what's wrong?" Dean said. He knew where Andy was coming from...but Dean had let countless people incinerate inside that facility because they had dared to touch his brother. Sam did what he did because that guy had sliced Dean's stomach open. Karma and fair play.

"Guilt." Andy said simply. "He feels guilty for what he is, what we are, for what it's done to you, to your family, and for what he has done, and if you say he has memories of things that didn't happen, or of things that happened that we prevented from actually happening... who knows what all he did in that time or what ever it was. "

Dean closed his eyes and exhaled. Well, that was going to be a mofo to work through. "It's not his fault. None of it is." Dean said. Of that he was convinced.

"Hey, you're preaching to the choir here." Andy said. "I know that, I didn't choose to be what I am so I know he didn't. What he went through, no one would choose. Demons and Angels playing chess. That's all it comes down to really and Sam ... Sam's a powerful piece on the board. He makes it to the otherside and the bad guys get their queen back. And that's something that scares the hell out of him."

"Dude, did you just call my brother a queen?" Dean said, shaking his head. "Okay, so the bad guys don't get him no matter what. That's my job. I can do that at least. I think." Well, he'd try. He'd do it or die trying.

"Man, see... there you go again. You can help Sam but you can't fight the battle for his soul for him. It's not how that works. It's Sams... only he can lose it or give it away or sell it. All you can do is be there."

"Well he's not fighting it. So I have to." Dean shot back. "Look, he just has to run this community and all that stuff. It's my job to keep him safe, and I'm not going to fuck that up again."

"Okay, now who has the guilt complex? Dude, you might be the chosen , sword wielding, Demon Slayer of Doom but you can't be everywhere at once. "

"I don't have to be every where at once." Dean said calmly. "I just have to stop them from getting the queen." He said, and he couldn't help but grin at calling Sam a queen.

Andy laughed. "He isn't a queen yet. He's just a pawn... one that is reluctantly being pulled to the other side of the board. You aren't all the other pieces you know. Theres more of us than just you here that can help look out for him. "

He was all the other pieces on the board. He'd always been all the other pieces on the board. But he rolled his eyes. "Fine. Point taken." He said. "Me, you, Ash, Bobby, Josh, Father Reynolds. The rest are in awe of him, or are borderline dismissive." Like Mickey. Still undecided about that Ben.

"Yeah well if you were looking at a total stranger that did what Sam had done, you would be in awe of him too. He's your little brother, awe doesn't come into the equation." Andy pointed out. "We'll figure out how to help him... together. We all care about him too, you know."

"I didn't say you didn't." Dean said. "We'll figure something out." Even if he felt like he was drowning under the weight of it all. Save his brother, save the world, it was all one thing. Couldn't do one without the other.

"Yeah... just remember that We part in there okay?" Andy said as he pulled the van into the compound. "We gotta work on hiding our entrance some how. Just a feeling I got."

"I don't know, know anyone who can super grow some plants for us?" Dean asked.

"Not off hand but we'll see what we can do. It's a good idea. Maybe a gate that we can make look rusty as hell too. " Illusion was the best way really. Make people think there was no real way in and they wouldn't look for anything inside.

"We'll keep the signs saying it's a radioactive area too, maybe move them out a bit more." Dean mused. Whoever had cleaned it up did a good job. No one was sick after all. And Dean knew it would be his luck to be the one that got sick. "Start posting some look out people."

"That's a good idea, I'll get Josh working on the signs. He seems eager to do anything to up the security around here."

"Yeah, he can be a little much. But he knows his stuff." Dean said. "He's been a hunter, before that he was a Marine, plus he's a redneck." Dean said.

"I'm from Oklahoma, remember. Land of red neck. Even the politicians are red necks. I seem to see a pattern with hunters though. A lot of red neck hunters out there. "

"Well, hunting is a red neck thing." Dean said with a laugh. Sometimes he wished he was 'from' somewhere. He was born in Kansas. But after his mom died, well, he and his brother became 'from' everywhere and nowhere.

"I guess it makes sense really. What with all that you have to do. You either become red necks or unabombers."

"Nah, Unabombers are further up north." Dean said with a grin. "Besides, the Unabomber comes from Chicago, and he's a Harvard graduate. Scary, isn't it?"

"Very... then again technically Sam graduated from Stanford, Ash was too intelligent for MIT I am betting, and then there is Bobby who seems to know more than anyone I know... anyone human that is, and who knows if he has ever been to any sort of college."

Dean laughed. "Dude, I barely graduated high school." He couldn't stand to be stuck in a classroom. "I don't know about Bobby, but he's easily the smartest man I know."

"I don't doubt it." He said as he pulled into a parking space. "He's a mellow kinda guy too. Makes him good to have around here. The younger ones, I think, have adopted him as a surrogate dad. Don't know if he knows it yet or not."

"Can't blame them. When we were kids, I think Sammy wanted Bobby to be our dad sometimes." Because sometimes there were months when they saw more of Bobby than of their dad. And Bobby was always very patient with Sam, unlike how their father was at times. His brief return to the land of the living had helped smooth over some of those wounds, Dean knew, but they still scarred.

"Could understand that. Never met your father... I heard about him, from Josh. Sounds likea hell of a man but a hard one." To Andy, John Winchester sounded like something out of a novel more than a man of flesh and blood.

"A force of nature, atomic bomb and the hardest granite you'd ever find all rolled into one." Dean agreed. "I was positive nothing could ever kill my dad. Not Dad. And nothing ever did, either. Both times he went out on his own terms."

"I detect more than a little hero worshipthere." He said with a smile. He imagined you either loved a man like that or hated him... or both, which is what he suspected was the case with Sam.

"Just a little." Dean said with a chuckle. "I thought he was Superman, you know? But hey, theykilled off Captain America, I guess Superman could die too."

"Even superman had his kryptonite." Andy pointed out, thinking more in some ways of Dean than of John. "No hero, super or otherwise is invulnerable or invincible."

"Yeah, guess we're all learning that." Dean said. He never really thought of himself as invincible. More like just too damn stubborn to die.

"So let's get people off loading this stuff and then you can go get revenge by drugging Sam's wheaties or something." Andy said with a smile, knowing that some how he hadn't even made a chink in concrete that Winchester heads seemed to be made of.

"Oh he's goingto get drugged. Bobby too. Incriminating pictures will be taken." Dean said with a laugh. "And then plastered all over this place. Just you wait."

"Ouch... you guys take this whole vengeance thing pretty seriously, don't you?"

"Yes we do." Dean said with a smirk. "So you going to try and drug me next? Or do whatever it is you do?"

"No, it didn't work. you were knocked out but it didn't help Sam sleep. They figured if you werent watching him like a hawk maybe he would... you know... wink off for a while. "

"Then maybe you should have drugged Sam." Dean pointed out. It would be a nice revenge, wouldn't it? And at the very least allow Sam's body to get some rest, even if his mind didn't. He got out of the car and started unloading the supplies from the back of the van.

"Yeah cause that works so well with a guy on the edge and paranoid. " Andy said. Dean walked a different edge than Sam. He wasn't as likely to tear the place apart in his sleep either.

"Well, his body's gotta rest at least. Look what happened to me when I pushed too hard. Thought Sam was going to tear out his own throat to get me blood if I needed it."

"Scary thing is... I think he would have." Andy pointed out. "We'll figure out something."

"Before or after I club him over the head?" Dean said. "His hovering was bad enough after New Orleans. Shit, it was bad after the first time Dad died actually. Now, it's just unbearable."

"Pot, Kettle, Black... you know how that goes." Andy responed with a laugh. The brothers were a riot when you could take a step back from it all and really look at them. Comedy and Tragedy all wrapped up into one... well... two really.

"Dude, I'm not a kettle or a pot." Dean said. "Maybe a frying pan. If I hovered, he never would have gone to Stanford. If I hovered he never would have gotten laid. If I hovered, he certainly never would have been captured by the government." So maybe that was the problem. He needed to hover. At least to show Sam how damn annoying he was being.

"Dude, have you lost your mind? You are so a kettle... or what ever... you hover like a vulcher over a dying man in the desert. Only the two of you are so busy circling each other that you don't watch out for yourselves and that's when you get into trouble."

"Not sure I ever had a mind." Dean said with a chuckle as he emptied the back of the van. "But I thought that's what you were volunteering for, to watch our backs."

"Yeah... I am. Bobby is, Josh is... hell I think Dierdre would go three rounds with a demon just to see Sam smile... you guys need to lighten up or you are going to burn out and burn out hard core. Neither of you can afford to do that."

"Dude, I'm plenty light." Dean said. "Like, back at the college, I was the man." He said with a laugh. "I'm serious. Once we get everything settled here, I'll lighten up. As long as Mickey stays off my freaking back."

"Things are as settled as they are going to get, we're all just finding our way right now. Its gonna happen in its own time. In fact its better if it happens in its own time. "


End file.
